Family affair … This man and his daughter are busy separating dirt from what could be gold nuggets, or gold dust, nestling on the shoreline just a stone’s throw away from the Jose Panganiban town hall. The muddy, reddish earth that they shove into the sluicing platform holds particles or dust of the precious yellow metal. Until now, the source of this gold-laden earth is being debated by gold operators (most of them illegal) and environmentalists, who dread the unstoppable silt pollution of the bay. But what is very clear here is that the silt has found its way into the shoreline of Mambulao Bay on the town side and is causing the bay water brownish, oftentimes reddish, making it unsuitable for leisure swimming or bathing. Anyway, at the end of the day, the father and his daughter, as well as the youngest member of the family (edge of the picture, right) would go home with -- hopefully -- one or two “bahay” of gold, which could fetch them about P800 plus (per bahay) at the local gold buyer (the weight of one “bahay” is equal to the weight of 14 dry palay grains). From the gold trader’s shop, father and daughter go straight to the town market for tonight’s dinner of fish, rice, veggies and a bottle of soda and some more for the next two days’ table. Life is good, as they often say, with gold lying around the shoreline. Notice in the background the Calambayungan Island of Larap (center) and a portion of Baranggay Pag-asa (left). – Photo by ERIC ESPANA/MWBuzz text by AP HERNANDEZ

Paranial project could affect Kabihug people

Signboard indicating an ongoing road project for the Kabihug community in Baranggay Osmenia. 

The road leading to the tribal community.  – MWBuzzpics by ALFREDO P HERNANDEZ

By ALFREDO P HERNANDEZ

THE reactivation of the Philippine Air Force’s radar tracking facility at Paranial on the outskirts of Jose Panganiban, CamNorte, could displace a colony of indigenous people known in the area as Kabihug.

Numbering more than 1,400, the Kabihug people live in a 22-hectare ancestral land within the Sitio Calibigahu at Baranggay Osmena, just outside the poblacion.

The Kabihugs do their hunting and farming here, according to Caritas of Australia, one of the charity groups working to ensure that they are not displaced from their ancestral land.

Known as Aeta or Abiyan in other parts of Camarines Norte as well as in Camarines Sur, they number about 20,000, according a study of indigenous people in the country.

The government, through PAF will clear a total of 72 hectares of hinterland occupied by the Paranial Radar Station facility. 

The tracking facility will include a runway for its PAF aircraft, including jet fighters and other high-security facilities.

But due to the presence of the Kabihug tribe in area, the PAF is considering to reduce the clearing area from 72ha to only 50ha, leaving at least 22ha to the tribal group.

A top official of the PAF who recently talked to the local officials said that the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) would like to see to it that the Paranial clearing activities will not encroached on the land allotted to the tribal group.

Caritas said on its website that it supported the Kabihug people or more than 1,400 to gain land entitlement to 22ha of ancestral land in Osmena.

Right now, Caritas and four other groups have begun a project called Kabihug’s Land Road Project that starts at the Gawad Kalinga (GK) village in Osmena and stretches towards the area where the Kabihug people live.

Caritas is supported by two other non-governmental groups such as the Diocese of Daet and St Paul college Foundation, Inc (SPCFI), and gets support from the local government unit of Jose Panganiban and the provincial local government unit of Camarines Norte.

Basically, the road gives the tribal group access to many places outside their ancestral land, including the public market in town where they could bring their farm produce.

The tribe, which is engaged in subsistence farming and hunting for their livelihood, has been trying to assimilate with the Mambulaoan community through the help of Caritas and the other four groups.

Caritas said that PAF should see to it that the ancestral land is not affected in any manner by its development activities in the area.

The children of the Kabihug people in Sitio Calibigaho at Baranggay Osmena on the outskirts of Mambulao. - Photo supplied

Email the writer: ahernandez@thenational.com.pg and alfredophernandez@y7mail.com

Green Peace: Overfishing is killing Bicol’s marine wealth

Tuna purse-seine fishing, one of the causes of overfishing in Philippine waters.

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By MAR S ARGUELLES

LEGAZPI CITY: Overfishing is the major threat in the marine ecosystem  that endangers not only the fishing industry but also the livelihood and food security of a community, this according to an environmental advocate of Greenpeace Philippines.

Vince Cinches, Greenpeace Southeast  Asia oceans campaigner, said illegal and unregulated fishing practices especially those used by large fishing vessels contribute to the depletion of marine resources.

Cinches said these fishing vessels could catch a large volume of  fish in a time  that is far more than the total weekly catch of ordinary fishers.

Cinches claimed that the impact of these practices along with other unsustainable fishing mechanisms has been affecting our local fish supply.

He also noted the continuous soaring of prices but deteriorating quality and quantity of fish catch.

At a media forum recently here, he said that ironically the Philippines is an archipelagic country with around 1,707 islands but  because of overfishing  the fish supply from the country’s  ocean has diminished.

 “Our fishes these days are  getting smaller since the larger ones are gone. Even the smaller and younger  ones  that shouldn’t have been caught are sold,” Cinches said.

He said untargeted capture of varied marine species is also a threat that needs to be addressed

Greenpeace reports said the practice kills around 100 million marine animals each year. 

In other countries captured species, including turtles and dolphins which are now considered extinct, are discarded dead or dying but in the Philippines they are sold as food.

Greenpeace Philippines has visited the coastal waters of Burias and Ticao Pass in Masbate province to gather data for scientific and objective intervention on the problems threatening the marine ecosystem.

 “The visit is part of the peaceful global campaign set out by the Greenpeace to protect and preserve our oceans. We are advocating for changes to ensure that our needs are met without harming our environment,” said Cinches.

Also part of the team’s local advocacy is a public forum on Overfishing and Ocean Protection on October 25 in Donsol, Sorsogon.

Greenpeace is a worldwide organization that advocates protection and conservation of environment. – Bicol Mail

 

Prominent Legazpi businessman with Parkinson’s disease shoots wife

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By MANNY T UGALDE

LEGAZPI CITY: A prominent businessman here known to be afflicted with Parkinson’s disease shot his wife infront of their children Saturday morning.

A police report, however, said the victim, Janette Orozco Chan, 40, survived the lone bullet wound that hit her in the left chest from a .40 caliber pistol shot at close range by her husband, Danny Chan, 50, president of Jaeda Construction.

Legazpi City police chief  Senior Supt. Oscar Regala said suspect Chan immediately surrendered to the police after the incident. 

He was detained but was released after the reglamentary period of  36 hours pending the filing of formal charges against him.

His wife, the victim, was rushed to the nearby Albay Doctors Hospital where she was pronounced out of danger as of Sunday morning.

Many of those who learned of the incident wondered how a man with Parkinson’s disease could own a gun. 

Chan whose brother Cerilo is a city councilor is known here as a big-time contractor handling big government contracts in this city.

An investigator said the wife could have been an easy target if her husband was not suffering from the disease. 

A Parkinson’s disease is an incurable nervous disorder marked by symptoms of trembling hands, lifeless face, monotone voice, and a slow shuffling walk. 

It is generally caused by the degeneration of a dopamine hormone producing brain cells.

The report said the suspect gathered their children while waiting for his wife to arrive home that night.

As the victim arrived, the suspect aimed his gun and took a shot.

It was learned that the family of the victim would push through with the filing of case for frustrated murder. – Bicol Mail

LGU-owned loose guns seized

MASBATE CITY: The Philippine National Police (PNP) in Masbate recently confiscated 35 firearms with expired licenses “in the hands” of local governments in the province, the top police official in the island province said.

Senior Superintendent Heriberto Olitoquit, PNP Director of Masbate, said four guns with expired licenses were confiscated by police operatives from the provincial government, seven from Masbate City government, and 16 and eight from the municipal governments of Dimasalang and Pio V Corpuz, respectively.

Superintendent  Liane Mandane, chief of the firearms, explosives, security agencies and guard supervision section of the PNP in Bicol Region, led the operatives.

The confiscations followed a physical accounting of firearms owned by local governments in Masbate.

Olitoquit said the inventory of firearms with expired licenses in the hands of individuals and juridical entities were part of the implementation of the Oplan Latag Boga (laying down of arms campaign), which is meant to stop the proliferation of loose guns in Masbate.

The police were yet to release the calibers of the seized guns.

Recently, Olitoquit warned holders of expired firearm  licenses  in  Masbate province that they would face criminal charges if they would fail to renew their gun-carrying permits.

There were 2,178 expired firearm licenses in the island-province as of July, according to him.

“Under [the law] a [gun] with an expired license is considered an unlicensed firearm and the possession of which is considered [a crime] punishable by imprisonment and confiscation of firearm,” her said.

If the gun owners, Olitoquit said, were no longer interested to renew their licenses, they should turn over their firearms to the police to avoid any liability.

He ordered chiefs of police in Masbate to implement Oplan Kontra Boga (anti-loose guns campaign) and Oplan Bilang Boga (accounting loose guns campaign).

Police operatives have begun conducting home visits to persuade owners  of  guns with expired licenses to either renew the licenses or surrender their firearms.

Unlicensed firearms continue to fuel crimes in the province. In August, eight gun-related crimes that resulted to the deaths of 8 persons took place.

Recently, in Cataingan town, lawyer Nicomedes Romagos was shot dead by unidentified  attackers using M16 rifles, which were suspected to be unlicensed and owned by hired killers, said Olitoquit. – Bicol Mail

Dengue cases up by 28 percent in Albay

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LEGAZPI CITY: Health authorities in Albay are on heightened alert following the surge in dengue cases by 28 percent during the past three quarters of the year, the Albay Provincial Health Office said.

PHO surveillance team reported that 550 people  fell ill of  the deadly mosquito bite from January to September this year,  156, or 28% higher than the 394 cases reported during the same period last year, Dr Luis Mendoza provincial health officer said.

Provincial epidemiology data showed that among the 15 towns and three cities in Albay, Daraga town topped the list with 150 cases, followed by Legazpi City with 94, Camalig 68, Guinobatan 65, Ligao City 50, Tabaco City 37, Polangui 23, and Oas 22 cases while other towns have cases ranging from 9 to only one.

Mendoza blamed the long and intermittent rainy days that have been hounding the province since January this year. 

He said these dengue-infested mosquitos thrive and breed in stagnant water-filled containers, and  flower pots.

Last year, eight people died due to dengue in the towns of Daraga, Camalig, Sto Domingo, and the cities of Ligao, Tabaco, and Legazpi.

Meanwhile, the Department of Health (DOH) in Bicol reported that  dengue cases in the region rose by 100% from the first half of this year as compared to the same period last year from 406 cases to 812 this year.

Camarines Sur topped the list of  provinces in Bicol  that recorded a high rate  of dengue cases with 692 cases, followed by  Albay with 71 cases,  Sorsogon 16, Masbate and Camarines Norte with 12 each, and Catanduanes with only 10.

Earlier, Naga City health authorities placed the city under a state of calamity due to a dengue outbreak with 325 cases reported last June.

Dengue is a mosquito-borne disease.  Symptoms appear three to four days after the infective bite.

Dengue fever is a febrile illness that affects infants, young children, and adults.

Symptoms range from a mild fever to incapacitating high fever, with severe headache, pain behind the eyes, muscle and joint pain, and rashes. – Bicol Mail