PUERTO PRINCESA CITY, Palawan — The Coast Guard Station (CGS) in Cuyo town, Palawan province impounded five large-scale commercial fishing vessels and arrested their 50 crewmen for using the banned “superlights” while fishing at the waters of Magsaysay town.
An initial statement released Tuesday morning by CGS-Cuyo, under Ensign Merham Sajarani, said the crewmen were arrested some four nautical miles south of Barangay Cocoro, Magsaysay at about 1 a.m. on Monday.
The use of the superlights within the 15-km. municipal water is prohibited under Republic Act (RA) No. 8550 or The Philippine Fisheries Code of 1998, as amended by RA 10654.
“Appropriate charges will be filed in coordination with the local government unit of Magsaysay,” the CGS statement said, noting that they held the vessels following tip-offs from concerned Magsaysay residents.
It also said that based on their conduct of the Mandatory Marine Pollution Inspection with the Environmental Protection Unit of Cuyo, they found out that the vessels do not possess Shipboard Oil Pollution Emergency Plan (SOPEP), which is a violation of the Headquarters Philippine Coast Guard MC 09-14, Sections VI and VII dated December 19, 2014.
The sections state that “all domestic ships, regardless of tonnage operating in the Philippine marine environment, shall carry on board a SOPEP approved by the PCG and procedures to be observed by the master or other persons having charge of the ship, in case of an oil pollution incident.” (PNA)
