Security guard kills British dive shop operator during Black Saturday confrontation

Anthony Gilchrist in a banca in this undated photo posted on his Facebook account. He lived in Malapascua Island, Daanbantayan town where several foreigners have set up dive shops and resorts, drawn there by the rich underwater world and tropical island life.

A British dive shop operator was shot dead past 7 p.m. on Black Saturday after a heated argument with one of his staff members in Malapascua Island, northern Cebu.

Anthony Gilchrist, 34, part-owner of Fish Buddies, was shot at least six times in the head and body by a security guard.

The guard , 42-year-old Melchor Alciso Jr., was taken into police custody.

PO3 Alfredo Mandal of the Daanbantayan town police said Alciso arrived 40 minutes late for work. He came from a drinking session with friends.

The guard was told not to report anymore for the 7 p.m. nightshift because he had been drinking.
He opened fire with his .38 caliber revolver.

An initial police report said Alciso, a native of Southern Leyte under the Arowana Security Agency, had drunk alcohol but was not intoxicated.

“Dili man pod siya hubog, nakainom lang gyud,” Mandal told CDN.

Other sources said the guard had a previous falling-out with Gilchrist. He had been let go from work but was later rehired. In the inquest scheduled today, investigators will look into the possibility of an underlying grudge.

Another account said Gilchrist, who is a little over six feet tall, was upset and held the collar of the security guard during the confrontation.

The shooting took place at the dive shop located in a private resort in sitio Tawigan, barangay Logon which is also known as Malapascua Island.

The killing came as a shock to residents in Malapascua, where a growing number of dive shops and resorts are clustered.

Gary Cases, local owner of another dive shop, Divelink Cebu, said the shooting was a rare incident in what is normally a quiet, peaceful community.

Because of the killing, Cases, a member of the board of trustees of the Philippine Tourism Congress, suggested that “in tourist areas, guards in establishments should use nonlethal weapons like stun guns” to prevent the unnecessary loss of life.

He said the Holy Week was peaceful and resorts were full with visitors and divers, mostly foreigners, spending the holidays there.

Fish Buddies, a new dive shop, has been operating for less than a year, he said, and Gilchrist had been living in Daanbantayan for about two years.

Daanbantyan Mayor Augusto Corro said Gilchrist ran the dive shop with Chinese business partners Wu Peng and Tan Jie.

Gilchrist’s friend and countryman Lee Crozier coordinated with Honorary British Consul Tamsin Booth, who contacted Gilchrist’s family in England.

Two of the victim’s brothers are expected to arrive in Cebu from England tomorrow. Gilchrist’s remains were being transferred to the Rolling Hills funeral parlor in Mandaue City.

Malapascua Island, which is some 40 minutes by pumpboat from mainland Cebu, is a diver’s haven with at least 13 dive spots and white sand beaches.

Known mostly to backpackers 20 years ago, it is now a world-famous diving destination because of its marine biodiversity and the presence of Thresher Sharks in the 80-foot drop Monad Shoal where Hammerheads and Whitetip Reef sharks are also found.

In several websites and blogs, glowing accounts of the rich marine life are posted by local and foreign divers.

Cases, who studied marine biology in the University of San Carlos, said he would like to see Monad Shoal declared a national marine park and involve the local community in protecting it.

“The goal is to make it a marine park and help the community grow and take off the pressure on the reef,” he told CDN.

Malapascua is also the focus of the Shark Shelter Project of Anna Oposa, daughter of environment lawyer Antonio Oposa and co-founder of the Save Philippine Seas.

In the last two years, Anna has led online campaigns, workshops and talks on marine conservation, with the goal of seeing Malapascua Island made a model of sustainability and raised to the same status as the Tubbataha Reef in the Sulu Sea, a national park and protected area.