THE mayor said he just wants to ask questions, the fisherman admitted lying out of fear and ecology advocates cry harassment.
This is the drama unfolding around the Cordova reclamation project.
When faced by Cordova Mayor Adelino Sitoy, a complainant against the project admitted that he lied about his involvement in the case.
Edie Quijano, 46, said he told Cordova Mayor Adelino Sitoy he does not have anything to do with the case filed by green groups with the Ombudsman-Visayas against the mayor and six other government officials last week.
“I told him that I did not know about the case even though I was one of the people who filed it,” Quijano told Cebu Daily News in Cebuano.
He said he felt nervous when three barangay tanods went to his house in barangay Carolinas last Saturday and told him that Sitoy wants to see him.
“Nakulbaan ko kay wa ko kahibaw ug unsa’y iyang tuyo nako (I was scared because I don’t know what his intentions were towards me),” Quijano said.
He said he went with the tanods out of respect and was accompanied by a barangay councilor to Sitoy’s house where they had a brief conversation.
“He (Sitoy) asked me if I’m Eddie. And he asked me why we sued him,” Quijano said.
“I lied. I told him that I did not know anything about it and that I just signed it,” he added.
Quijano said Sitoy sounded calm during their entire conversation.
However, he said that he became worried when Sitoy said that he will get a sworn statement from him.
Since the mayor had another meeting, he said that their conversation was cut short and Sitoy gave him P150 “for cigarettes,” he said.
Vince Cinches of the 350.org branded Sitoy’s act of sending a person in authority to deliver his invitation an act of harassment.
Last Sunday afternoon, Quijano said he became more worried when a barangay official visited him again in their house and asked him to sign some documents for Sitoy.
Quijano said he signed the documents without reading it after the official assured that he would not be jailed for it.
He said that he would not meet with Sitoy anymore, as advised by their lawyers.
“That’s my only concern. I deeply oppose the reclamation but if I will be jailed, who will support my family?” he said.
Quijano, a member of the Panaghiusa sa Mananagat sa Timog Amihan Cordova (Pamatia-co), is one of the fisherfolk in the area opposing the Cordova reclamation project spearheaded by the Capitol.
He said he opposed the reclamation project since it would kill the marine species in the area.
“The sea is owned by all, not just the government, “he said. He said he has been fishing in the area since he was 8 years old.
Cinchez said if Sitoy wants to meet with the fisherfolks it should be in public with the presence of their lawyers.
Sitoy earlier said he only wanted to meet with Quijano and the fishermen to hear their concerns on the reclamation project and ask them why they filed the case. /Candeze R. Mongaya, Reporter