The legal battle to recover Silot Bay from private ownership of the Mendoza family isn’t over

Liloan Mayor Duke Frasco (standing, center) promises town residents in the Liloan gym he’ll fight it out in court and other venues to restore Silot Bay as a communal fishing ground. He holds up a copy of Liloan’s order to Mendoza stop fencing the bay. (CDN PHOTO/ LITO TECSON)

Liloan Mayor Duke Frasco told residents in a public forum he would support efforts to contest a 2007 decision of  the Supreme Court which affirmed ownership  rights of labor leader Democrito Mendoza over the bay, where Menoza owns a marina and restaurant.

“This (ownership of Silot Bay) is a problem haunting the municipality for many decades. The issue has reached the highest court of the land. But as mayor of Liloan, I’ll have to look for ways to ensure  that our people still have a fishing ground,” Frasco said.

A fence being built in the bay has angered residents, who started weekend protest rallies after  armed guards of the Mendozas prevented them from swimming in the water or fishing.

The mayor’s office issued three stoppage orders against the fencing.

Frasco pledged his commitment in a public hearing attended by about 100 individuals. He said he has two years left to solve the issue before his term ends in 2016.

Frasco apologized to the public for what they perceived as a “slow action” on the part of the local government in addressing the issue.

“This started in 1954. I was not born then. But that’s not an excuse for me not to address this. Let’s look for solutions. I’ll try to solve it in my two remaining years as mayor otherwise my successors will inherit this problem. If I can’t solve this, I must say I failed as a mayor and I’m not ashamed to say that,” he said.

Frasco said all barangay captains of Liloan will pass a resolution to the municipal council requesting the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG), the Cebu provincial government, and other agencies to review the decision of the third division of  the High Court.

He said they will also need the help of the Provincial Attorney’s Office and the OSG which represents the state in legal battles.

Frasco called for the  public consultation at the Liloan gym to hear sentiments of residents, including fisherfolk and professionals, after the Mendozas put up a fence in the water last month.

Some suggested requesting the SC to conduct an ocular inspection of  Silot Bay or  asking for a congressional inquiry.

Others suggested a “piso-piso” campaign to gather donations to support a legal team to contest the SC ruling.

Frasco said two representatives of Mendoza explained to him that they were putting up “markers” in the bay, not a fence.

“I told them ‘Don’t insult my intelligence.’ For them its a marker but what they are constructing is actually a fence. They have to remove that,” he said.

Last Jan. 30, Frasco  met with Mendoza’s son Rep. Raymond Mendoza of the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines. The mayor said Raymond promised to relay the mayor’s order to remove the fence.

“In my head and heart, I felt offended and angered. But I have to be fair as a mayor. My priority now is to provide a fishing ground for our people,” Frasco said.

Democrito Mendoza first secured a fishpond permit in 1954.  A long legal battle ensued as local fishermen protested the loss of a communal fishing ground.  They won in the Regional

Trial Court but were reversed by the Court of Appeals. The Supreme Court in 2007 upheld the apellate court  ruling that the disputed property was a  “natural fishpond” that was alienable and disposable.

In 2008, there were plans for the Liloan municipal local government and the Mendozas, and the fisherfolks to enter into a Memorandum of Agreement about the use of Silot Bay but it never materialized.

Frasco is set to meet with Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III on Feb. 14 to discuss the problem.

“Governor Davide and I don’t belong to the same political party. But that’s only good during elections. For now, I’m thinking about the good of Liloan,” the mayor said.

Lawyer Jose Wayne Lawas of Liloan suggested  contesting the ruling of the SC’s third division.

Since the ruling was made by just one division of the court, they can still revive the case by asking for an en banc decision of all 15 justices to review the issue of Silot Bay’s ownership.

“The decision of the SC’s third division is not final yet. It’s not the end of the road for us yet. The court en banc can overturn the ruling of the third division. We can attack the decision as unconstitutional. We still have hope,” Lawas said during the forum.

He cited the cityhood case which put the High Court in the limelight for “flip-flopping”  and reversing its own “final rulings” in cases which resulted in the creation of new cities in the country.

The lawyer urged his fellow Liloanons to boycott Papa Kit’s Marina and Fishing Lagoon which is owned by the Mendozas.

“We want to manifest our opposition. We want to promote tourism in our municipality but other than Papa Kits. We can promote Liloan without that, ” Lawas said.

Dr. Adrian Vista, another resident, said he was dismayed when the public was no longer allowed to enter the waters of Silot Bay.

“I used to go there and take swaki (sea urchins). People from the mountains go there to gather food. It’s sad for me seeing that the bay could no longer be accessed by people. It’s an insult to us,” he said.

Claudia Maranan, 80, was fuming when she took hold of the microphone.

“Kining kalibutan para sa tanan. Dili ni para sa usa ka tawo lang. Ang Silot Bay iya na sa tawo, dili ra kang Kito (Mendoza). Gihatag ni sa Ginoo para sa tanan. Kinsa to ang naigo, examina ang inyong konsensya. (The world is for everyone. It’s not for one person only. Silot Bay belongs to the people, not Kito Mendoza. The Lord gave us Silot Bay. Anyone hurt by my comment may need to examine his conscience),” she said.

Fisherman Rommie Noval said he hopes the problem will be resolved soon.

“Kaming mga managat, asa naman lang molugar? Managat man gyud mi diha sa Silot kay fishing ground man na. (Where will fishermen go? We wll certainly go to Silot Bay since that’s our fishing ground),” he said.

RELATED STORY:

Lilo-an folk protest fencing of Silot Bay by Mendozas