Photo essay: Parang beach watch

      What's this kid (right) doing among the rubbish in this early morning hour?

By AP HERNANDEZ

WHAT should have been a pleasant early morning walk along Parang beach turned into a nightmarish stroll for a Balikbayan, who, in his youth, walked its white sand and bathe it its clear, cool water.

This morning, Arnel P Hernandez, a native of Parang, felt like getting sick. 

He might not be able to have his breakfast of “puto at kape” when returns home. Their ancestral house, which is at the heart of Parang, is just 700 meters from the beach.

“It’s just disgusting … I wonder how the municipal government could allow this beach to deteriorate like what it is now… rubbish all over the place ... and right behind these houses and squatter shanties …” says Hernandez, a member of Batch ’73 graduates of Jose Panganiban High School.

Used to waking up early – he tries to beat sunrise – when overseas, the Japan-based civilian employee of the US Naval base in Yokosuka had carried his camera – for anything worthwhile to shoot and show on Facebook.

This morning, what he caught on his camera are pictures that would later shock his Facebook friends and colleagues at the US Naval facility, from where he recently retired as a serviceman.

Looking at his pictures, you, too, could get the same jolt.

     (The photographer, ARNEL P HERNANDEZ, is a retired US Navy serviceman who has 

     rejoined the US Naval Base in Yokosuka, Japan as a civilian employee. As Engineering 

     Technician (Mechanical), he is a Subject Matter Expert (SME) working in the HM&E  
     Fleet & Industrial Support Division, Propulsion Machinery Branch, Code 281, providing 

     comprehensive system and equipment support to ships operating in the Ship Repair 

     Facility - Japan Regional Maintenance Center (SRF-JRMC) Area of Responsibility. - 
    Editor)