NBI deputy director Virgilio Mendez said the foreign probers arrived in the country Thursday morning.
“Pero wala pa sila dito sa office namin. Waiting na po kami,” Mendez said.
The seven-man team first went to the Philippines last May 27 for a four-day parallel investigation on the fatal shooting of the 65-year-old fisherman that caused a rift between the Philippines and Taiwan.
The team inspected the Philippine vessel that confronted the victim and his fellow fishermen, who were accused of poaching in Philippine waters, and interviewed Coast Guard and Bureau of Fishery and Aquatic Resources personnel implicated in the shooting.
The team also conducted ballistics exam on the Filipino authorities’ firearms as well as viewed and obtained a copy of the video of the incident.
On Wednesday, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said the Taiwanese team would be meeting with the NBI “as matter of courtesy” to discuss findings of their respective investigations.
She said the purpose of the meeting is not to “cross-check” the findings of the two teams.
De Lima cited a similar instance when the eight-man NBI team flew to Taiwan to conduct its own probe on the matter, which included inspecting the fishing vessel of the victim and getting statements from his companions.
After the relatives of the victim disagreed to a re-autopsy, the NBI team resorted to interviewing the medico-legal team that conducted the autopsy in Taiwan and just viewed a footage of the autopsy. — Mark Merueñas/KBK, GMA News
