Update On The Randy Stirm Boat Situation

Randy told me today that the Gingoog City Government has finally filed charges against him: Only one charge actually, the use of "active fishing gear" in munincipal waters. I'm not sure exactly what that means, but Randy gave me the impression he wasn't arguing with it. It's apparently only a 1,000 pisos fine or so... not the 2-million piso fine that the Gingoog folks were allegedly going to impose on Randy at the dock a couple of weeks ago.

(Note that Randy's claim is in contradiction to Gold Star Daily's statement in today's article below that states that Randy was charged with "alleged illegal fishing and for taking back the fishing boat that was seized by authorities".)

One commenter in another post said Randy was also guilty of using a "superlight" to attract fish. Randy denies this, and the lack of any mention of such charges against him — either by Randy or in the Sun Star article — would seem to support his position, since it would seem an obvious charge if that were the case. (Perhaps the "illegal fishing" charge is a coverall inclusive of several individual charges, I don't know... I just pass along what I am told.)

Randy interviewed with The Manila Inquirer today, and is going to meet with Mayor Jaraula of Cagayan De Oro, and I guess several human rights groups are interested in hearing his story. Also, Randy and Cherry were on "TV Patrol", the ABS-CBN local news broadcast, last night. The video is online, but cannot be embedded, and is all in Visayan, and is at the 20-minute point of a 30-minute broadcast, so... click here and figure things out ("Cagayan / 08/26/09") if you want to see for yourself.

Here is today's article from Gold Star Daily, as always with thanks to Herbie and Jigger for letting me post it in full.

Gingoog officials have filed a complaint against American Randy Stirm, his wife and the crew of FB Cherry 1 for alleged illegal fishing and for taking back the fishing boat that was seized by authorities on the waters off eastern Misamis Oriental.

Gingoog Mayor Ruthie Guingona yesterday said this even as she confirmed that she ordered big fishing boats that enter Gingoog Bay seized.

The order was for a group composed of the Bantay Dagat, Gingoog Bay Alliance, Navy and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), among others, to protect Gingoog’s small-time fisherfolk.

Guingona admitted to being the chairperson of the Gingoog Bay Alliance, a group which Stirm accused of wanting to establish a monopoly in the area.

He said the group was partly responsible for the Aug. 14 incident.

Stirm said the alliance is neither registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) nor the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA).

Guingona said Gingoog’s small fisherfolk have long been complaining because they were supposedly being harassed by armed people on big fishing boats. She said fishermen have complained that they were fired at.

She said the illegal fishing operations were being made at the expense of Gingoog fisherfolk.

Guingona said complaints against the Stirms and their crew were filed before the Gingoog city prosecutor’s office. The complaint was docketed as X-07-INZ-09H-0000304.

Prosecutor Constancio Collera was reportedly tasked to handle the complaint.

A preliminary investigation has been scheduled at 2 pm on Sept. 7 and a subpoena is expected to be served anytime soon.

Guingona said big fishing boats are only allowed to fish beyond 15 kilometers from the shore.

What happened, she said, is that big fishing boats would enter the restricted area to fish.

"Some of these fishing boats come from Oroquieta, Jasaan, Camiguin, and even as far as Cebu," she said.

Guingona said the Navy, with the help of the Bantay Dagat, seized Stirm’s fishing boat last Aug. 14 because the American had no permit to fish, an allegation strongly denied by Stirm.

Stirm has maintained that his boat is registered and that he has a government permit to fish in the "Bohol Sea".

According to an online version of the Encyclopedia Britannica (britannica.com), Bohol Sea, also called Mindanao Sea, is an area measuring about 170 miles that includes Mindanao, Leyte, Bohol, Cebu, and Negros.

Aside from violation of some fishery laws, Guingona said, the Stirms also face a complaint for taking their fishing boat back.

Guingona said the boat became like a "government property" the moment it was seized.

The Stirms have earlier threatened to sue Gingoog officials, local fisheries, Navy and police personnel for the alleged illegal seizure of FB Cherry 1. They claimed the over P2-million boat was in bad shape when they retrieved it.

Stirm said the Navy fired at least 18 shots at the boat and authorities searched and took it without a warrant. He said authorities who did not properly identify themselves searched for firearms but found none.

Guingona said she was unfazed by the threat of a lawsuit. "We are ready to face them (in court) because they violated several laws," she said.

As I said in comments in the other blog post, my gut instinct is that The Philippines should keep local waters for local fishermen (and I know nothing, so feel free to convince me otherwise, but don't expect me to argue my position with facts... it's just my feeling), and I neither support nor condemn, agree with nor dispute Randy or any actions that he may have taken that led to his problems... only the treatment and extrajudicial law that he faced as a result of his actions. Randy faced the maritime equivalent of getting pulled over by a police officer, and having the police officer insist on destroying his car right there at the side of the road. Obviously that's wrong, and the people in Gingoog were wrong too.

(Click here for all blog posts related to Randy Stirm's situation.)