Dredge floaters end up in Zambales junkyard

SUBIC, Zambales—Some parts of the dredge floater assembly retrieved from the Zambales sea and towed to the capital town of Iba have found their way into a local junk shop, despite efforts from the provincial government to keep the objects for auction.

Efren Medrano, chair of the Lanao-Bangan Fishermen’s Association, said he saw a few floaters and metal screws, which were dismantled from the assembly and towed toward Barangay Sto. Rosario in Iba, ending up in a junkyard there.

“It’s likely that these came from the dredge floater assembly towed to Barangay Sto. Rosario [in Iba],” Medrano told the Inquirer on the telephone on Wednesday.

The assembly was pulled to the coastline of Sto. Rosario on Aug. 16. It was the second set of floaters that local fishermen found in the province’s waters.

The first set—spanning a kilometer long—was seen drifting 3 nautical miles (5.5 km) from the shores of Cabangan town on July 24. It was kept in nearby San Agustin village.

Medrano said those who sold several parts of the assembly to a junk shop could be villagers who were not involved in the recovery of the equipment. “Our fishermen will not sell the objects because we’re sticking to the plan of the provincial government to have these auctioned off,” he said.

The dismantled pipes and floaters in San Agustin remain under the custody of the local government, Medrano said.

Jorge Limuardo, one of the fishermen who helped pull the floaters to the shore, said some of the interlinked pipes and floaters were “deliberately ripped to pieces” early this week so these could be easily taken to a junk shop.

“We learned that the junk shop bought a floater for P3,000, while the screws were sold for P8 a kilogram,” he said.

Raul Calimlim, Sto. Rosario village chief, confirmed that several parts of the assembly were sold to some junk shops in Iba. “We already asked the assistance of local police to confiscate the [dredge floater assembly] parts from the junk shops,” he said.

He cautioned residents against stealing and selling the objects since these devices were under the custody of the local government.

“We also warned junk shops not to accept floaters or any parts of the assembly,” he said.

Earlier, Gov. Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. stopped the fishermen’s attempt to sell the equipment to individual buyers. He said the provincial government took custody of the objects, which would be auctioned off to benefit the fishermen who found these.

The objects could be worth a “sizable amount” or “millions of pesos,” Ebdane said.

A new dredge floater assembly is worth P2.5 million, Erwin de la Torre, a former executive of a company that manufactures equipment similar to those found here, said in an earlier interview. Each assembly is composed of three floaters, a steel pipe and a rubber connector.

“On the low side, a single used assembly is easily worth P1.5 million,” he said.

Several fishermen said they believed the objects, which have Chinese markings, could have been washed away from the Scarborough Shoal, since they saw similar objects near that area.

The shoal, also called Bajo de Masinloc or Panatag Shoal, is one of the disputed territories in the West Philippine Sea. It is 230 km (124 nautical miles) west of Zambales.

Fishermen from the provinces of Zambales and Pangasinan said they had been driven away by Chinese Coast Guard personnel from the shoal, a rich fishing ground for locals.

In La Union, residents of the coastal town of Bacnotan also found a 400-meter dredge floater assembly after strong waves pushed it to shallow waters of Barangay Baroro there last week.

The assembly is now being secured by Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) personnel and the local police.

Ensign Simeon de la Rosa III, PCG operations officer in La Union, said the steel assembly has 47 segments connected by rubber and has 39 sets of metallic floaters.

“The pipe is so large that a van can pass through its opening,” he said. Allan Macatuno, Inquirer Central Luzon; With a report from Yolanda Sotelo, Inquirer Northern Luzon