Silot Bay rally to go on as scheduled

The removal of “markers” from Silot Bay in Liloan town won’t stop affected residents from staging protest actions against the Mendoza family.

Elvira Arañas, whose family owns a nearby resort, said what they want is for Silot Bay to be returned to its real owners — the people of Liloan.

“We are glad that some of the markers were already removed, but that is not enough,” she told Cebu Daily News.

Arañas said they will push through with the rally that will start at   9 a.m and end at noon.

She said they expect about 500 people to join the rally to be held at the bay bridge.

“This is going to be a gathering of people with grievances, those who will support us in our cause,” she said.

Art Barrit, spokesperson of the Mendoza family, said the family agreed to remove the markers they installed on Silot Bay after a meeting with Mayor Duke Frasco.

Family members who came to the meeting included labor leader Democrito Mendoza.

FLAGLETS

Barrit said they will instead place flaglets and buoys to replace the markers made of PVC pipes filled with cement and steel bars. The flaglets, he said, are meant to warn people not to venture into the area because of the strong current.

The Mendozas claim ownership of 92-hectares of the 520-hectare Silot Bay.

Arañas said only those fences (or markers as claimed by Barrit) located near the bridge and those located offshore were removed at 3 p.m. yesterday.

“They left out fences placed near the shorelines. It’s difficult to assess if the removal of the fences was already good enough to especially allow the movement of fishermen in the area,” she said.

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