6 Sino poachers nabbed

By Zaida delos Reyes-Palanca

Tonight, Saturday,March 26,2011

Six suspected Chinese poachers were arrested off Balabac, Palawan Wednesday.

Lt. Gen. Juancho Sabban, commander of the Western Mindanao Command, said the identities of the foreign nationals were not yet available as of press time.

He said the suspects were arrested at around 5:30 p.m. while on board a green speed boat loaded with undetermined sea turtles at the vicinity of North West of Ramos Island, Balabac, Palawan.

Confiscated from the six were a 23 footer speedboat powered by three 60 HP Yamaha OBM and equipped with navigating equipment such as GPS, UHF radio, a compressor, fish nets for catching sea turtles and other parapgernalia.

The suspects were brought to the Balabac Police Station for custody and filling of charges.

6 Chinese arrested in Palawan

By Florante S. Solmerin

Manila Standard Today, Saturday, March 26,2011

Six Chinese nationals ere arrested on Thursday for poaching off Balabac Island in Palawan by a joint team of the military, police and marine authorities.

The arrest was made at the culmination of the joint military exercises of the Philippine Navy and the Malaysian Royal Navy conducted in Sulu Sea.

Lt. Gen Juancho Sabban, commander of the Western Command, said six suspects were aboard a green 25-foot speedboat equipped with Global Positioning System-aided navigation and UHF Radio.

Recovered from the suspects were 16 turtles, ten of which were dead, and fishing equipment, Sabban said.

Philippine navy arrests six suspected Chinese poachers

Monster and Critics, Friday, march 25, 2011

Manila - The Philippine navy arrested six Chinese nationals suspected of poaching off a western province, a regional military commander said Friday.

Patrolling navy personnel caught the suspects Thursday off Balabac town in Palawan province, 600 kilometres south-west of Manila.

Lieutenant General Juancho Sabban said the navy seized the suspects' speedboat, which was loaded with an undetermined number of sea turtles and fishing paraphernalia.

Sabban said the suspects were detained at Balabac police station pending the filing of illegal fishing charges against them.

monsterandcritics.com

Navy cites Filipinos in sailing tilt

By Elena L Aben

The Manila Bulletin Newspaper Online, Thursday, March 24, 2011

MANILA, Philippines — The Navy takes pride in the feat of its four personnel who are members of the Philippine sailing team which recently garnered the championship crown in the recent Subic-Boracay Race that also saw teams from the US, Australia, New Zealand, and Hong Kong, a Navy spokesman said last Tuesday.

Capt. Giovanni Carlo Bacordo said First Class Petty Officer (PO1) Rico V. Albeso, Seaman First Class (SN) Joel Mejarito, 3rd Class Petty Officer (PO3) Ridgely Balladares and Third Class Petty Officer (PO3) Rommel Chavez sailed to victory in the IRC Cruiser/Racer Class and IRC Racing Class, respectively in the February 19-21, 2011 races.

Bacordo said Albeso and Mejarito belonged to the IRC Cruiser/Racer Class joining six other individuals in this category, while Balladares and Chavez joined 12 others in their Racing Class category.

The four are assigned with the Philippine Fleet in Sangley Point, Cavite City.

Except for Mejarito, the rest are veteran sailors who have competed in races both here and abroad. The four are the only AFP personnel in the Philippine Sailing team.

Bacordo said the four were also members of the Philippine team that topped the 1st Australian Nationals in Albany in 2010. Following this race, the team placed 2nd in the World Mirror Championship, also in Australia.

"The Subic-Boracay Race is one of the “exposure” races before the Philippine Team competes for the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Palembang, Indonesia in November this year," said Bacordo.

The Navy spokesman added that the “exposure” races put the team in high gear as they aim for gold medal in the SEA Games. The Philippine team’s lone gold medal came during the 1991 SEA Games in Manila. Albeso was already part of the winning team.

"Next stop for the four and the Philippine team is the Commodore’s Cup in Subic in April. The sailing team is also slated to compete in Singapore in June, Hong Kong in August, and Japan in October," said Bacordo.

The Manila Bulletin Newspaper Online