Four Filipino Seamen Arrested in India for sending Cyclone Update through a Satellite phone

Four citizens of Philippines were arrested by personnel of Arjyapalli marine police station in Ganjam district of Odisha, India on Sunday afternoon on charges of illegally using satellite phone on Indian soil.

Sources said the four Philippine Nationals were using satellite phone in the radius of five km from the coast.

The police seized one satellite phone from their possession. They were arrested from Gopalpur port. The arrested Philippine nationals had reached Gopalpur port in a cargo ship. The ship in which they have travelled to Odisha coast has reached the port to carry export cargo for OSCOM, a unit of Indian Rare Earths Limited (IREL). They had come to Gopalpur Port in a cargo vessel - MV Fortune - last week to take minerals to Japan.

According to Ashok Parida, inspector in-charge of marine police station, on Sunday they had intercepted satellite phone calls from Gopalpur port premises. It was found that the satellite phone was being used illegally.

Immediately a police team tracked down on the users and arrested the four Philippine nationals.

On Saturday evening, they were using a Thuraya satellite communication set on board, to talk to their families about the possible cyclone developing in the sea. Coast Guard officials saw them using the satellite phone and informed the police.

They are identified as Second Officer Nathaniel A. Faza (38), Chief Petty Officer Librado P. Jemina (37), Chief Cook Eduardo S. Gruspe (46), and Seaman Jescel B. Bautista (34).

Several calls were made by arrested Filipinos from the banned satellite phone which has been frequently used by terror groups in Jammu and Kashmir. The phone was used during the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, police sources said.

A Dubai-based satellite communications company, Thuraya has global customers which include industry leaders from a variety of sectors including energy, media, marine, government and NGOs. Islamic terrorists are also detected subscribing Thuraya satellite services for their communication needs reason why it is banned in Indian Territory.

The superior network of the company enables clear communications and uninterrupted coverage across two thirds of the world via satellite and across the globe through our unique GSM roaming capabilities.

The Filipinos had not declared the presence of the set in the Pre-Arrival Notification System (PANS) of the vessel, a mandatory declaration for all boats and ships that intend to enter Indian waters.

Use of Thuraya satellite phones is banned in Indian territorial waters under section 6 of Indian Wireless Act and section 20 of Indian Telegraph Act.

The Sub Divisional Judicial Magistrate (SDJM) court in Odisha’s Chhatrapur today granted bail to four Philippines nationals.

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ICC International Court - Lack of Law knowledge: Cannot go After Philippines' Duterte

President Rodrigo Duterte. (ACE MORANDANTE/PPD)

International court can’t go after Duterte

The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) says any person who encourages or condones President Digong’s war on drugs is liable to be prosecuted before the court.

“Let me be clear: any person in the Philippines who incites or engages in acts of violence including by ordering, requesting, encouraging or contributing in any other manner, to the commission of crimes within the jurisdiction of the ICC is potentially liable to prosecution before the court,” ICC Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said in a statement recently.

The ICC would then be prosecuting 76 percent of Filipinos who encourage the elimination of lowlifes in our society such as people who commit heinous crimes or peddle illicit drugs.

That’s 76 million Filipinos out of the total population of 100 million.

According to the latest survey of the Social Weather Station, 76 percent of the population approve of what President Digong is doing for the country.

The killing of criminals in the government’s war on drugs (drug traffickers, drug pushers and peddlers are considered criminals) is not within the ambit of the ICC.

You see, the Hague-based court’s mandate is to investigate and when warranted, try individuals charged with genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Genocide refers to the mass slaughter of people on account of their race, religion, culture or political belief.

Peddlers of illicit drugs are not being singled out because of race (they’re Filipinos like the rest of us), religion (they’re Christian or Muslim like the rest of us), culture (they have the same culture as the rest of us) and political belief (they’re apolitical and criminal).

The Philippines is not at war with any country; therefore, President Digong is not committing any war crime if he really ordered—granting but not admitting—the killing of drug criminals.

“Humanity” refers to people in general; therefore, Digong cannot be charged with a crime against humanity as he is not a misanthrope or one who hates mankind.

It was unfair and stupid of ICC Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda to accuse Digong of committing genocide, a war crime or crime against humanity in his war on drugs.

Why didn’t the International Criminal Court investigate and try then US President George W. Bush of committing war crimes when he ordered US troops to invade Iraq?

It was only in Bush’s imagination that Iraq was keeping weapons of mass destruction.

Bush was eventually proven wrong when not a single weapon of mass destruction was found in Iraq and only after the US had already invaded that country.

US Ambassador Philip Goldberg says that from 2012 to 2016, “USAID (United States Agency for International Development) contributed more than P3 billion to Mindanao and the ARMM (Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao), with P500 million specifically allocated for health services.”

Because of the souring relations between the Philippines and the United States, Goldberg’s statement sounds like he’s, as we call it in Filipino, “nanunumbat.”

Goldberg is practically telling the Filipino people, “Hey, you are so ungrateful! We give you so much money and yet you bite the hand that feeds you.” – Inquirer.net

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