Pinoy fishermen maltreated in Indonesia
By Rhodina Villanueva (PHILSTAR NEWS) (May 24, 2011)

GENERAL SANTOS CITY, Philippines – Militant fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) decried the alleged maltreatment of 22 Filipino tuna fishermen in Indonesia when strong waves pushed local fishers toward the Indonesian shoreline.

Pamalakaya national chairperson Fernando Hicap said the Indonesian government violated the human rights of 22 tuna fisherman. He also condemned the Indonesian police for the fatal shooting of 43-year-old Arnold Abellar. Abellar, a resident of Fatima Village in General Santos City, died due to loss of blood. “We deplore this brutal and reprehensible act of the Indonesian authority. We also assail the Philippine government and the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) for not doing anything to attend to the need and immediate concerns of the 22 Filipino tuna fishermen,” said Hicap in a statement.

He said President Aquino and the DFA should work for the speedy release of the remaining 20 tuna fishermen and extend all the necessary legal and diplomatic measures to ensure their release. Hicap said the shooting incident and maltreatment took place 20 days ago, but Malacañang and the foreign affairs have yet to respond to the case of the tuna fishermen.

He said the remains of Abellar, who allegedly died when their vessel was fired upon by Indonesian authorities last May 5, returned to General Santos in a casket. Abellar’s younger brother, Anthony, said the victim was the skipper of a fishing boat owned by Jake Lo of the MGTR Fishing here.

Report said the Abellar brothers were among the 22 fishermen 13 from Sarangani Province and nine from General Santos City who sailed off to the high seas on April 21 to catch tuna. The fishermen said they had been operating for about two weeks in the high seas, particularly in the disputed boundary of the Philippines and Indonesia.

According to Anthony, the Indonesian police tried to flag them down on May 5 but they did not stop because they could not determine whether the men were Indonesian authority or not. He said the Indonesian police fired shots at their boat and hit his elder brother in the back. He maintained that the Indonesian policemen were not in uniform during the incident.

He added many of his colleagues suffered physical abuse at the hands of their captors. Anthony and a fellow fisherman managed to return home bringing the cadaver of his brother to their hometown last Friday.