Photo grabbed from Coast Guard District Central Visayas official FB page
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Personnel of the Philippine Coast Guard sub-station in Tubigon, Bohol and the Philippine National Police arrested a senior citizen for the possession of materials used in making homemade dynamites.
Lemuel Batuasa, a resident of Mocaboc Island in Tubigon town, was arrested as he was about to receive his social pension during the distribution of social pensions in Tubigon town on Thursday, July 7.
In a social media post, the Coast Guard District Central Visayas said Batuasa has long been suspected and monitored by the local police for possessing materials in making homemade dynamites. The said paraphernalia were found in plain sight in his residence.
Photo grabbed from Coast Guard District Central Visayas FB page
Among those seized by law enforcers were 72 pieces of transparent plastic cellophane each containing one kilo of ammonium nitrate, one piece of homemade dynamite, two pieces color black plastic storage box, one unit weighing scale, one piece transparent plastic, one bundle of 38 improvised time fuse with blasting cap in both ends, three bundles of improvised time fuse with blasting caps in both ends containing 50 pieces each bundle, one sack ammonium nitrate huchemsfine chemical corp made in Korea, and six pieces of empty sacks of ammonium nitrate.
These materials, the Coast Guard said, were turned over to the Bohol Provincial Explosive Canine Unit and was forwarded to Bohol Provincial Forensic Unit for laboratory examination and proper disposition.
Illegal fishing is penalized under Republic Act. No. 10654 or An Act to prevent, deter and eliminate illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, amending Republic Act No. 8550, known as the “Philippine Fisheries Code of 1998” and for other purposes.
The national government banned the import of solid ammonium nitrate in 2002, but according to Oceana, “leakage” and illegal sales are common.
Oceana, an international advocacy organization focused solely on ocean conservation, is urging the national police, the Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority, and the Secretary of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) to strengthen laws governing access to this substance.
Despite the fact that dynamite fishing in the Philippines has declined since its peak in the 1980s and 1990s, Oceana said, the country’s fisheries bureau estimates that 10,000 incidents still occur every day.
Illegal fishing flattens reefs and kills any animal within the blast radius, including rare whales and dolphins, Oceana added.
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