Medellin mayor, fisherfolk at odds over building of resort

AT least 70 fisherfolk in barangay Gibitngil, Medellin town, north Cebu, are opposing the construction of a footbridge that would connect the town to an islet where the local government is building a resort called Fantastic Beach.

Mayor Ricky Ramirez did not inform them of the plan to build the  bridge, said to Evelyn “Nene” Cuyos, secretary of Gibitngil Farmers and Fisherfolks Association.

Ramirez called for a public hearing only to  inform them of plans to build  a Bantay Dagat outpost, Cuyos told Cebu Daily News.

The building of the bridge would affect the fishing activities of small fisherfolk in their barangay, Cuyos said.

Cuyos said  a policeman from Medellin police station  allegedly threatened to sue  them for blocking a government project.

The association claimed that on June 10, Ramirez, who was accompanied by  Bantay Dagat personnel and policemen, fired a gun at Gibitngil residents.

They said  the personnel forcibly dispersed them when they held a protest and that a Bantay Dagat boat deliberately hit a fisherman’s pumpboat, destroying it on June 15.

They plan to file charges against Ramirez with  the Commission on Human Rights in Central Visayas.

Ramirez said he will hold a press conference today to explain his side. /Correspondent Carmel Loise Matus