Men who harassed Mandaue eco-wardens hunted

THE Mandaue City government is now on the lookout for the unidentified men who reportedly harassed two eco-wardens of the Mandaue City Environment and Natural Resources Office (MCENRO) who were guarding the private lot in Barangay Tingub where the plastic wastes from South Korea were dumped.

In an interview with reporters yesterday, Mandaue City Mayor Gabriel Luis Quisumbing said that the on-duty eco-wardens who were overseeing the clearing out of the plastic wastes from the 2,000-sq.m. lot in Tingub were currently in trauma after unknown persons carrying firearms on board a red-orange colored Pajero suddenly confronted them last February 21 at around  9 a.m.

“It was rather traumatic for the eco-wardens. While they were keeping watch over the area while the trash were being pulled out, a Pajero arrived at the scene and opened their windows and door to show nga daghan kaayo sila og pusil sa sulod  (that they had a lot of firearms with them),” Quisumbing said.

According to the eco-wardens, the men were looking for a particular person working under MCENRO. After telling them that the person they were looking for was not in the area, the eco-wardens immediately left for fear of their lives.

The eco-wardens, however, were not able to get the plate number of the vehicle.

Quisumbing said that the victims already coordinated with the Mandaue City Police Office and the Command Center to track down the vehicle and identify the men.

“This is really becoming a very complicated problem. We even fear that there may be some collusions between some people, but ultimately we are confident that this will be resolved within the soonest possible time,” Quisumbing said, adding that roving and station policemen were immediately deployed in the area to secure peace and order there.

MCENRO chief Araceli Barlam told Cebu Daily News that they had also sought the cooperation of Barangay Tingub to help identify the harassers.

The reloading of the shredded plastic wastes to its vessel of origin M/V Christina is still ongoing. As of February 24, Barlam said that almost half of the 2,500 metric tons of wastes in Tingub were already pulled out from the area.

After two weeks since the Bureau of Customs Cebu ordered the shipment of the wastes back to Jeju, in South Korea, Quisumbing said that the completion of the reloading operation has been hampered due to the docking of the ship and the classification and repacking of the wastes.

Quisumbing said that the Mandaue City government will be filing the appropriate charges to the erring parties this week.