By Jezza A. Nepomoceno

The Iloilo Bantay Dagat Task Force is seeking the prosecution of fishermen apprehended earlier this year for the use of hulbot-hulbot boats.
According to Senior Police Officer 1 (SPO1) Jose Ronnie Panes and PO3 Philip Canoso, criminal complaints have been filed against boat captains Herman Tanes, Celso Zapa, and Ronald Santillan.
Most recently, boat captain Ronilo Gallardo and owner Ronal Villanuena, who is currently at large, were caught on June 23 when their crew of 24 was caught fishing off the coast of Gigantes Island, Barangay Asluman, Carles, Iloilo.
The fishermen face charges in violation of Fisheries Administrative Order No. 246, which bans the use of hulbot-hulbot, or Danish seine, a type of fishing net used for commercial fishing.
Tanes, meanwhile, faces additional charges of obstruction after allegedly cutting boat lines at the time of arrest.
“After their arrest, the legal battle begins,” said Panes. “Our goal is to prosecute them all and the good thing about this is the fact that none of the complaints we filed have been dismissed.”
If found guilty, the accused will be sentenced to two to ten years of imprisonment and assessed a fine between P100,000 and P500,000. A penalty between P150,000 and P500,000 and six months of imprisonment will be imposed for medium-scale commercial fishing vessels./WDJ