NEWS BRIEFS
SEAWEED SEIZED IN MACTAN
A TRUCK loaded with 340 sacks of dried guso seaweed was seized by police in barangay Punta Engaño, Lapu-Lapu City, on Thursday then released the next day.
A PNP team of Task Force Kalikasan stopped the truck, which carried 16 tons of dried seaweed worth P240,000.
No permit was shown prompting the seizure.
Roel Mascariola of barangay Cawoy in Olango Island yesterday claimed ownership of the cargo. He said the dried seaweed came from Olango Island and was bought from local residents for P15 per kilo.
Mascariola said they were in a hurry to transport the seaweed to the mainland and were unable to bring documents. He was able to show permits the next day.
SPO1 Jomar Ybañez, head of the task force, said the owner was asked to present a permit of origin, a permit to transport and auxiliary permit.
Tthe Mitsubshi Fuso truck with plate number GGH 348 was driven by Rey Capin of Danao City and owned by Rene Froilan of Mandaue City. Correspondent Norman V. Mendoza
FISHERFOLK RALLY IN CORDOVA
Two fisherfolk groups staged a march rally at 9:30 a.m. yesterday in front of the Cordova municipal hall to protest the ongoing 10-hectare reclamation project in the town’s foreshore near a newly built pier.
About 40 members walked the two-kilometer route and were stopped by a police barricade on the road of two trisikads and a vehicle.
After a negotiation with the Cordova police chief, Chief Insp. Alvin Balio, who sought assurance that the rally would be peaceful, the demonstrators were let through.
The rally was staged by members of Panaghugpong sa mga Mananagat sa Timog-Amihanang Cordova (PAMATIA-CO) and Pamana-Sugbo
Pamana-Sugbo chairman Victor Lapaz said the rally was a show of support for three fishermen—Edie Quijano, Alejandro Baguio and Cirilio Pagobo—who complained of being “harassed” after filing a complaint against Capitol and Cordova officials with the Visayas Ombudsman’s Office to oppose the reclamation project.
The fishermen said Cordova Mayor Adelino Sitoy sent emissaries calling them to a meeting.
Pagobo, who was at the rally, said fisherfolk were not consulted about the reclamation project, which will cover up to 3,000 hectares.
“I may be a humble fisherman but I understood the complaint I signed,” he said.
Cordova Councilor Lemuel Pogoy said most of the protestors were not from the town. Mayor Sitoy was not in his office.
Pogoy said plans for a 132-hectare “mini-Boracay” in Cordova that critics are opposing is just part of the reclamation project.
He said this won’t destroy the seashore, as feared, but would instead develop it into a public beach.
“It will be an eco-tourism site. That’s what they don’t know,” Pogoy said. Correspondent Fe Marie Dumaboc
