Medellin Mayor admits staffer fired shot

MEDELLIN Mayor Ricky Ramirez yesterday confirmed that one of his men indeed fired a gun when a group of fishermen protested last week the creation of a bridge in town.

Ramirez said the people in barangay Gibitngil were  getting unruly and violent that they needed to be warned.

However, he  said he did not intend to hurt anyone.

He said he also seeks a dialogue with fishermen who were affected by the construction of a bridge from the town to a resort called Funtastic Island Watch (not Fantastic resort as earlier reported).

Reporters who visited the site saw that the building  of the foot bridge has continued.

Ramirez said that he has detailed a police officer to guard the area.

Richard Cuyos, adviser of the Gibitngil Farmers and Fisherfolks Association (GIFFA), welcomed reporters in the island of Gibitngil.

Cuyos reechoed the concern of most of the members of GIFFA that they were not informed about the resort development by the mayor.

He said most of them are worried that they could no longer dock their pump boats in the shoreline.

This would affect their main livelihood, which is fishing.

GIFFA’s 70 members are against the construction of the 15-meter bridge that would connect local government-owned Funtastic Island Watch to the coastline.