President Benigno Aquino III assured the immediate completion of the trial of 31 Vietnamese fishers arrested after being caught fishing illegally off the waters of Sulu. Aquino and Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung held a bilateral meeting on Sunday during the 29th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. On April 22, 2012 the Philippine Coast Guard arrested the fishers for allegedly poaching sea turtles near Pangutaran Island in Jolo, Sulu. High-value reef fishes, shellfishes and black corals were also found in their vessel.

Golez, P. (2015, April 28). Speedy trial vs Vietnamese poachers. Panay News, p. 12.