Vietnamese Ambassador to the Philippines Nguyen Vu Tu on Aug. 17 visitted 122 Vietnamese fishermen who were arrested on May 30 and 12 others who were rescued from a recent storm in Palawan province, Philippines.
Mr. Tu also paid a courtesy visit to the Governor of Palawan province, providing further information on the economic contract between Vietnamese and Filipino companies . Those contracts allowed the above-mentioned 122 Vietnamese fishermen to fish in the
The Ambassador proved that the Vietnamese fishermen did not intentionally violate laws and waters of the
The Vietnamese Embassy and the fishermen’s families will continue working with relating Philippine agencies and complete documents to speed up the case to let 122 fishermen and their seven fishing vessels soon return to
On May 30, 2011, seven fishing vessels of Binh Thuan province with 122 fishermen on board were seized by the Philippine Navy about two nautical miles (3.6km) off Tamburok coast of Balabac, in
The fishermen planned to go to the Philippines for fishing under the economic contract between the Long Hai Long Company of Vietnam and the Philippines ’ Premiere International Interfishing Company. The fishing vessels and crews were arrested in the
Right after receiving the information, the Foreign Ministry of Vietnam sent a diplomatic note to the Philippine Embassy in
The ministry said it also asked the Vietnamese Embassy in the
In the coming time, the Vietnamese Foreign Ministry and the Vietnamese Embassy in the
Meanwhile, 12 other fishermen who were in distress in a storm and then rescued by the Philippine Navy on July 27, were completing procedures to return to