Click video: Lilo-an residents gather to save Silot Bay
Around 250 fisherfolk families, property owners and concerned citizens staged another protest rally yesterday morning in the Silot Bay bridge, this time demanding the return of the body of water body to its “real owners – the people of Lilo-an.”
According to one of the organizers, Elvira Arañas, demonstrations will be held every weekend to drum up support for the residents’ plea for the Supreme Court to reverse its 2007 decision affirming ownership of portions of Silot bay to labor leader, Democrito Mendoza.
DISPUTED WATERS: A young man jumps into Silot Bay from the Catarman bridge as others wait for their turn while the rest of the residents (left) hold placards to dramatize their call for the reversal of a Supreme Court ruling over the bay’s ownership. (CDN PHOTO/LITO TECSON)
“Nagpasalamat mi sa gobyerno sa aksyon nga ilang gibuhat niini pero di mi makontento nga ila (Mendozas) lang tangtangon ang koral. Dapat gyud na entirely mabalik ang dagat sa mga tawo,” said Arañas whose family owns a resort nearby.
(We are thanking the government for their recent action on the matter but we will not be content with the removal of the fence. The sea must be given back to the people.)
A number of children and teenagers jumped from the bridge towards the side of the bay fronting the marina and restaurant owned by the Mendozas as a sign of protest. The Mendozas allegedly prohibited residents from swimming or fishing in the area.
Adrian Vista, a doctor who hails from the town, cut the ropes cordoning off the bay while other residents destroyed parts of the fence made of PVC pipes to the delight of cheering protesters.
Protesters, who were mostly fisherfolks, took turns at the microphone for their speeches during the three-hour protest, including 63-year-old Lawlita Cabahug, who resides in the town poblacion.
Cabahug said she fears the “ripple effect” of the closure which could lead fisherfolks to resort to stealing since they do not have other sources of income.
“I may not be one of the fishermen but economically, we, residents of the town, would still feel the effects of the closure since a number of people live off the bay,” said Cabahug, a Math
professor at the University of the Philippines Cebu.
“The sea is public domain and it must be given to the people!” she added.
So sue us
Arthur Barrit, spokesperson of the Mendoza family, said the protesters are welcome to file a complaint in court to dispute the bay’s ownership.
“Let them file a formal case first. That is their right,” he said.
In 1954, Democrito Mendoza managed to secure a permit to put up a fishpond in Silot Bay. A long legal battle ensued as fishermen protested the loss of their communal fishing ground.
The fishermen won in the lower court, but the decision was reversed by the Court of Appeals.
The Supreme Court in 2007 upheld the apellate court’s ruling that the disputed property was a “natural fishpond” that was alienable and disposable.
In 2008, there were plans for the Liloan municipal government and the Mendozas, and the fisherfolks to enter into a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) on the use of Silot Bay but the plan did not materialize.
Last week, Liloan Mayor Duke Frasco in a public forum vowed to support efforts to contest the decision of the SC and said that 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.
The Provincial Legal Office will also help in digging up pertinent documents to the case, said Cebu Vice Gov. Agnes Magpale.
Frasco is set to meet with Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III on Feb. 14 to discuss the matter.
Still barred
Only a few posts and markers remained from the fence in the bay’s waters which according to Barit is a safety measure to prevent accidental drowning in Silot.
Representatives of the Mendoza family including ALU-TUCP party-list Rep. Raymond Mendoza’s family agreed to remove the structures in a meeting with Frasco last Saturday.
Multiple stoppage orders were sent by the municipal government to the Mendozas to stop the “illegal fencing.”
“NO TO ILLEGAL FENCING”
The floating nipa hut in the middle of the bay was gone along with the speedboat and a smaller boat that had been moored beside it.
A sign was posted by the Liloan municipal government near the bridge that read, “Welcome na ang tanan mangaliguay.” (Everyone is now welcome to swim.)
Shots fired
But according to resident Cha-Cha Juntong, the removal of the fences is still “useless” since the Mendozas’ security guards “would still shoot anyone who dares to fish in the bay.”
Security guards allegedly fired at a fisherman who was collecting seashells in the bay area Saturday night, according to one of the protesters.
The protester, who requested that he remain unidentified, said heavy security continues to be enforced around Silot.
However, Barrit dismissed the complaints as “mere hearsay from people who have vested interests” in the property.
He said the complainants always have the option to report it to the police.
“Categorically, we are denying that. If there is no police blotter then that remains a hearsay. It is just a ploy to create noise against us,” he said.