Foreign Affairs Secretary Blas F. Ople today commended the Philippine Embassy in New Delhi, India, for the able representation of Mr. Raymund M. Gencianeo, a Filipino seafarer who allegedly stabbed two (2) of his shipmates on 24 November 2002.

“It gladdens my heart whenever our Foreign Service establishments secure the release of another of our kababayans,” the Secretary said. He added, “I take particular note of the efforts of Ambassador Jose P. Del Rosario in New Delhi who undertook the matter of Mr. Gencianeo with the greatest of care.”

At 7:30 pm, 24 November 2002, Mr. Gencianeo was alleged to have stabbed            Mr. Harumder Singh and Mr. Pradeep Kumar, the Master and Chief Officer of the MV James River Bridge, respectively. At the time of the alleged incident, the MV James River Bridge, a Panamanian-registered ship, was sailing the Indian Ocean from the Suez Canal to Singapore. According to the vessel’s logbook, it was 674.44 nautical miles from the nearest island territory of India.

The Indian Coast Guard advised the MV James River Bridge to head for the port of Cochin in Kerala State, India, because airlift was not possible at the time. Upon making landfall on 26 November 2002, Mr. Genciano was taken into custody by local law enforcement and held at the Ernakulam Sub-Jail in Cochin on the charge of attempted murder under Section 307 of the Indian Penal Code.

The Department of Foreign Affairs, through the Philippine Embassy in New Delhi, based its argument to the Ministry of External Affairs of India upon the First Incident Report (FIR) of the Cochin Harbour Police Station and the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (1982 UNCLOS). Since the FIR reported the alleged stabbing to have occurred on the high seas, the Department argued that under the Preamble and, particularly, Article 92 of the 1982 UNCLOS,

“1. Ships shall sail under the flag of one State only and, save in exceptional cases expressly provided for in international treaties or in this Convention, shall be subject to its exclusive jurisdiction on the high seas. xxx”

The Philippine Embassy in New Delhi coordinated with Mr. Shanmugam, the honorary Philippine Consul-General in nearby Chennai, Tamil Nadu State, for the retainer of private advocate Mr. V.J. Matthew while Mr. Genciano’s case made its way through the Indian court system.

The Philippine Embassy in New Delhi carefully monitored developments in the case of Mr. Genciano, and, upon delivery of the Indian High Court’s favorable judgment on 27 June 2003, arranged for his swift return to the Philippines. END.