Because the landscape has been destroyed. I say it is a result of ignorance. One is talking one language and the other one in another language and they haven’t come together. They are misinformed. If you cut the mountain and put a reclamation, goodbye Boljoon.”
That was how Cebuano architect Augusto Villalon described the defacing of Ili Rock by contractor QM Builders as part of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) efforts to implement a reclamation project in Boljoon town.
The reclamation actually consists of preventive work done to protect the residents of sitio Talisay in barangay Poblacion, Boljoon town from landslides after the area was struck by last year’s 7.2 magnitude earthquake.
It was Rep. Wilfredo Caminero of Cebu’s 2nd district who persuaded the DPWH to do something to protect his constituents in Boljoon town from these disasters. The agency responded by hiring a contractor to do “slope benching” which consists of removing the rocks and boulders and paving portions of the mountain to cushion the landslides.
Were it not for the fact that they carelessly dumped the rocks and boulders near the shoreline, the DPWH project would have gone unnoticed. As it is, the fisherfolk howled over the presence of these boulders which blocked them from their boats, forcing them to call on their municipal council to pressure the DPWH to cancel the project.
A dialogue between the fisherfolk and the DPWH resulted in the agency agreeing to set aside the slope benching work and instead divert the P40 million plus budget to repairing the damaged plaza in the area. But that change of position didn’t come without cost.
DPWH Engr. Marlon Marollano of Cebu’s 4th district engineering office probably reflected the mindset of most of the agency’s personnel when he chided those opposed to the project by saying they are “against development.”
“It’s the mayor who is supposed to tell you about the project. What we have here is not a consultation, it’s a dialogue… our conversation with the mayor is public consultation because he represents you,” a video posted in YouTube showed Marollano as saying.
No wonder so many projects in the country start off on the wrong foot. We end this with a quote from Villalon, who was recently promoted as honorary member of the International Council for Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) to illustrate the wide disparity and disconnect of the national government’s vision and programs for development in relation to their constituents.
“There is a concept of tourism and development but their concept is destruction. We have to find the right venue to educate these people and hopefully it will be done in a good way instead of confronting them. We have learned a lot in preserving the trees in Carcar. After what happened in Boljoon, there are more lessons to be learned.”
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