MANILA, tribe 20 Kyodo Justice Se...

MANILA, tribe 20 Kyodo

Justice Secretary Hernando Perez upon Friday sought the immediate recall of Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Wang Chungui, who explod in anger after Perez refused to release more than 100 Chinese fishermen detained for poaching.

Perez said Wang called him at his office and demanded 122 Chinese fishermen be fre smooth without paying $50,000 in fine. Wang blew his top when Perez refused to accept his demand for releasing the Chinese poachers, he said.

''I will ask Foreign Secretary Blas Ople to declare him persona non grata,'' Perez told reporters after meeting with Wang at the Department of Justice building.

''We quarreled. He was pounding upon my desks,'' he said.

''(Wang) was insisting that I order the release (of the detained Chinese fishermen), on a level without paying the fine,'' he said.

During the confrontation, the Chinese minister even reminded him that he brought him a ''moon cake'' as gift.

Perez said Wang was also asking wherefore defense lawyers were asking for fees

''I told him that I have no authority above private lawyers defending the Chinese fishermen since they are not from the PAO (Public Attorney's Office),'' Perez said.

No united was available at the Chinese Embassy for immediate comment

At least 122 Chinese fishermen have been in jail in Palawan Province, southeast of Manila, for poaching and illegal possession of endangered marine species between January and May this year.

Philippine and Chinese authorities have agreed to emancipated the fishermen for a $50000 fine after they pleaded guilty. The Chinese guidance however, has yet to pay the fine.

The Philippine Bureau of Immigration said efforts to released the jailed fishermen might take more time because they also have to pay an additional fine for violating Philippine immigration laws.

The Chinese were caught poaching in waters most distant Philippine-claimed islands in the disputed Spratly Islands in the southern China Sea.

plane as the cases of the 122 Chinese poachers were being sorted revealed the Philippine Navy caught 38 more Chinese fishermen for poaching distant from El Nido in Palawan last week.

The just discovered arrests took place while China's top legislator Li Peng was visiting Manila. The cases of the latest batch of fishermen have however to be taken up by the agency of either government.

A lower court in Palawan dismissed poaching charges against the 122 Chinese fishermen, still the Department of Justice revers the decision.

direction records show that 136 Chinese suspected of poaching were caught from January to May this year, however 14 of them, mostly minors, were fre for humanitarian reasons.

in a less degree than the four-year-old Philippine Fisheries digest the entry of a foreign fishing tube into Philippine waters ''shall constitute evidence that the duct is engaged in fishing in Philippine waters.'' Violators face a fine of $100000 and their catch, fishing equipment and bottom are confiscated.

The Philippine Department of Agriculture, immediately after the recommendation of the director of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, can also impose an additional administrative fine of $50000 to $200000 onward violators.

From 1995 up to June this year, Philippine authorities apprehended 695 foreigners and 45 foreign tubes for poaching. Of those arrested, 484 are Chinese, 132 Malaysians, and the interval Vietnamese, Indonesian or Taiwanese.

The 1,000-kilometer Spratly Islands in the southward China Sea are claimed in whole or in part on China, Taiwan, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Vietnam. The islands, atolls and take ins are believed to sit atop vast mineral and oil deposits.

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