Lilo-an folk protest fencing of Silot Bay by Mendozas

A Lilo-an town resident holds up a protest banner on the bridge over Silot Bay where the Mendoza family operates the Papa Kits Marina and Fishing Lagoon
(CDN PHOTO/LITO TECSON)

Is Silot Bay off limits?

Fences have come up around Silot Bay in Liloan town in the past month, angering fishermen, a resort, and local residents.

The move has revived a decades-long conflict over access to the water body now owned by the family of labor leader Democrito Mendoza by virtue of land titles that classify it as a “natural fishpond,” a decision made final by theSupreme Court  in 2007.

PVC pipes filled with steel bars and cement partly  enclose the bay, which runs through four barangays in Liloan, north Cebu.

“Every Sunday, residents in Liloan come here to swim and fish.  We can’t do it anymore because a security guard will shoot you if you do,” said Claudia Maranan, a resident.

Last Sunday, over 100 people – fishermen, resort owners and Liloan residents – staged a protest rally to object to the closure. Placards and banners hang in the bridge crossing the bay.

“We heard they are fencing the area because the management of Papa Kits wants to build a water park there,” said Maranan.

He was referring to the Papa Kits Marina and Fishing Lagoon,  a restaurant and recreational area owned by the Mendozas.

FOR SAFETY?

Arthur Barrit, spokesman  of the Mendozas, said the new fence was a safety measure to alert people against accidental drowning.

“For the past years, several people died in Silot Bay due to the whirpool there. We don’t want to be part of those incidents,” he told CDN.

Barrit said people should not fear the guards detailed at Silot Bay since they were tasked as “life guards.”

“Anyone can still go swimming in the area. The fence is not a perimeter. It was installed as a demarcation line to warn people about the danger going into the bay,” he said.

Mendoza’s son Raymond is a congressman representing the TUCP party-list. Democrito Mendoza is one of the founders of the Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP).

Iron rods and PVC pipes form part of a fence along Silot Bay in the poblacion of Lilo-an, north Cebu. The family of Democrito Mendoza said this was just a demarcation to warn people it was unsafe to swim there.
(CDN PHOTO/LITO TECSON)

When CDN visited the area yesterday, two security guards occupied a floating nipa hut in the middle of the bay, whose wide mouth opens up to the sea.

Beside the cottage was a a speedboat and a smaller boat which residents said were used in chasing anyone who goes into the water.

Elvira Arañas, 48, whose brother owns the Silot Beach Resort (commonly known as Pilapil Park), at the other side of the bay, said the fencing started in January.

“The Mendozas can do anything they want. They are so powerful,” she said.

Arañas, whose resort has suffered a decrease in customers since the fencing, said they will hold rallies every Sunday until the fence is removed.

“Before, a lot of people  would come here. Now, people don’t come anymore because  they are afraid of the armed guards,” she said.

She said her family has owned the Pilapil beach resort since the 1800s. Her brother presently manages the resort.

“My brother has been undergoing dialysis and his only source of income is this resort,” Arañas said.

Since  part of Silot Bay was fenced, the Arañas’ are left with just about six meters of sea.

Oliver Sungahid, a fisherman for 10 years, said he was shot at by one of the guards when he went fishing in the middle of the night last year.

“Nanguha ra ko og pasayan kay mao ra gud ni ang akong pangita. Gibadlong ko sa gwardiya. Apan kay wa man ko mipatuo, iya ko nga gigukod unya gipusil. (I was  looking for shrimps in the bay when the guard admonished me to stop what I was doing. I didn’t heed him so  he chased me and later fired a shot at me),” he told CDN. He showed scars on his left leg where he said a bullet hit him.

Sungahid said Silot Bay was rich with tilapia, Lapu-lapu and shrimps, a catch he said helps support his family.

An order to stop fencing was already issued by the Liloan municipal hall, said  Remedios Udtohan of the Municipal Engineering’s Office in a GMA 7  Balitang Bisdak report.

“The construction of the fence is illegal. They didn’t secure a fencing permit to start with. We already issued a stoppage order,’ said Udtohan.

Some Liloan residents wrote to President Benigno Aquino III seeking an investigation on how the Mendozas acquired lot titles over Silot Bay.

Signatures of about 1, 200 people were attached.  They called for the cancellation of the titles  issued to the Mendozas, saying the bay was a “body of water which forms part of the Camotes Sea.”

They also plans to ask the help of Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III.

Petitioners said the bay has long been a “communal fishing ground” for residents of Liloan town, whose name was derived from the word “lilo” or whirlpool caused by the flow of waters of the Silot Bay.

They said the Certificates of Title were issued during the term of President Ferdinand Marcos and that Democrito Mendoza is a “well known protege of Marcos.”

They said the Mendozas have used the land titles to prevent fishermen from fishing in the premises and bathers from swimming into the sea.

While the land certificates were issued to the Mendozas in view of their Fishpond Lease Application, the protestors said the premises was not being devoted for use of a fishpond but as a resort and commercial establishment now known as Papa Kit’s Marina and Fishing Lagoon. It siad the fencing was being done to enhance or expand the marina.

They requested President Aquino to stop fencing the bay and to revoke the certificates of titles.

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