A fisherman prepares his net just outside a shipyard in Sitio Bagacay, Barangay Tayud, Consolacion town, Cebu. The area is part of the 235.8 hectares that the municipal government wants to reclaim in partnership with a private consortium. | Contributed photo
MANDAUE CITY, Cebu — Residents and fisherfolk in Barangay Tayud in Consolacion town are happy that President Rodrigo Duterte heard their plea for the suspension of the proposed Seafront City Reclamation Project.
But Anabella Pomento, president of the Tayud Fisherfolk Association, said they were also well aware that what they now enjoy was just a temporary victory.
Still, she and the rest of her neighbors remain hopeful that the next administration would continue the suspension of the processing of the application of all pending reclamation projects in the country, especially the one in Barangay Tayud.
“Kun kinsa man ang sunod nga molingkod, manghinaot ko nga dili na lang gyud intawn ipadayon,” she said in a phone interview.
(Whoever will sit as the next president, I hope that he/she will no longer authorize the implementation of reclamation projects.)
READ: Duterte puts reclamation applications on hold
Duterte said in a meeting with top government officials on Thursday, March 31, that he had ordered a stop to the processing of applications for reclamation projects in the country due to reports of corruption.
These include reclamation project applications in Cebu and Mindanao.
Residents gather shells at the shorelines of Sitio Bacagay in Barangay Tayud, Consolacion during low tide. | Contributed photo
“Happy kaayo mi nga nakadunog mis tingog sa president. Pasalamat mi nga gidungog sa Ginoo ang among mga pag-ampo. Nagpasalamat pud mi sa presidente nga wala gyud mi pasagdai, kami nga mga namuyo diri nga pulos gyud intawn pobre,” Pomento said.
(We were very happy when we heard about what the president said. We are grateful that God heard our prayers. We are grateful that the president did not forsake us, we who reside in this place and who are poor.)
READ: Complaint vs Tayud reclamation project reaches Malacañang
Pomento clarified that they would not oppose the implementation of the 235.8-hectare Seafront City Reclamation Project. They just wanted assurance that they would be taken cared of by the municipal government.
“Ang among gipangita lang gyud ang among siguridad. Kun asa mi ibutang? Ang among panginabuhi-an?” she said.
(We just wanted to be certain of our security. Where will they relocate us? Our source of livelihood?)
Pomento said residents of Barangay Tayud have suffered more than enough. They have been struggling as a result of the pandemic which prevented most of them from going out of their homes to work.
Super typhoon Odette which hit Cebu on December 16, 2021 worsened their sufferings after the typhoon also damaged most of their fishing boats.
In fact, most of them have become dependent on aids that they had been getting from private donors and from the Cebu Provincial government through its Dasig Sugbo program.
As per her experience, Pomento said, she only received two relief packs, each consisting of five kilos of rice, coffee and sardines, since the pandemic started two years back.
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