"It’s a deliberate attempt to get the Hundred Islands from us, nothing more nothing less."
This was the strongly worded statement of Alaminos City Mayor Hernani A. Braganza during a press conference held yesterday at Island Tropics Hotel in Lucap Bay Area here overlooking the majestic Hundred Islands National Park (HINP) which became the center of irresponsible expose made by the provincial government.
Braganza cried foul over the issue that city’s icon has been vandalized and that the fishponds were illegally constructed within the national park and allegedly the cause of unpleasant smell in the area.
“This is unfortunate and irresponsible,” stressed the former two term first district congressman who in his first term led the dismantling of fish pens, fish cages and fishponds in the Hundred Islands.
“We are saddened by these negative reports because we are doing all our best to promote and protect our national park,” he continued.
“What really is the intention of this picture?,” asked the mayor as he shows an aerial photo of the park which includes the Bolo Development Cooperative (Bolodeco) area.
“Is it really to expose an old problem in the national park? Or to get from Alaminos the management of the Hundred Islands?”
The said photo entitled ‘Hundred Islands Vandalized’ and was published in a local newspaper and uploaded in website appears to be either old or digitally enhanced.
This had sparked an outrage from the city’s tourism sector and local residents that have directly benefitted from the booming tourism industry for more than five years now.
Bolodeco is a cooperative organized by local fisherman in the city in 1980 with the purpose of developing a swampy mangrove area within the park into fishpond.
A 45-hectare area which was originally part of the Hundred Islands was leased to the group during the Marcos regime.
During the time of the late President Corazon Aquino, the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) has granted certificate of land ownership agreement (CLOA) to the 221 members of the cooperative.
Former President Fidel Ramos then authorized the issuance of the original certificates of transfer to Bolodeco which said to have been registered with the Registry of Deeds of the province.
It was learned though that there’s still pending petition of PTA at the DAR’s adjudication board (DARAB) on the nullification of the Bolodeco’s CLOA.
Braganza said “we could probably accept if the title of the photo should have been “Hundred Islands vandalized 20 years ago”.
“But the implication is that we did it during our time which is totally unacceptable, unfair and incorrect,” added the concurrent secretary general of the League of Cities of the Philippines.
The mayor believed Governor Amado Espino was definitely misinformed by his allies that there are illegal structures within our 1,844 hectare marine sanctuary and that the dikes in the Bolodeco were made of corrals.
“There is only one big fishpond in the Hundred Islands and this is owned by Bolodeco. All other fishponds which could be seen along the shorelines are part of the city’s mainland,” he said.
In a recent interview, Congressman Boying Celeste, claimed that aside from the fishponds inside the Bolodeco area, there are some private individuals who own and operate fishponds within the Hundred Islands.
The allegation was declared by the mayor as a blatant lie citing that the fishponds that the solon had mentioned are actually located at the mainland.
The incumbent legislator is the elder brother of Arthur Celeste, a former congressman whom Braganza had beaten in the recent mayoralty race here.
The younger Celeste was the main proponent of House Bill 4995, which seeks to reclassify a certain portion of the HINP and shall be awarded to private individuals including his relatives for them to venture on tourism related industry.
Fortunately, Braganza learned about these evil motives of some greedy politicians from his friends in Congress and concerned private entities and succeeded in blocking the said bill.
Proving his critics wrong and to clear the issue once and for all, the hardworking mayor personally toured the members of Pangasinan media to the Bolodeco area and around the province’s premier eco-tourism destination.
The mediamen actually set foot on the dikes that were constructed using limestone taken from the mountains and mangrove roots, as explained by newly elected Pandan Barangay Captain Ricardo Legaspi, and not from corals as alleged in the previous reports published in the papers.
Regaspi, who was among those who first built the dikes, said they never used corals because it is illegal and second it floats in the water and can easily be crumbled.
Most of the dikes were already eroded and destroyed by previous typhoons that hit the city. Thus, they could not see an operational fishpond within the Bolodeco area.
Also, contrary to the governor’s statement in an interview with a local TV station that the area is emitting foul smell posing danger to the residents and tourists’ health and the marine environment, the media practioneers instead enjoyed the refreshing sea breeze.
And so, as soon as they left the Bolodeco area to visit the famous Governor’s Island and pass the breeding station and mariculture center of BFAR at the national park, the media group already knew who were really lying.
Certainly, not Mayor Braganza who had done everything to get back the Hundred Islands from the Philippine Tourism Authority (PTA) in 2005 in order to fully conserve, protect, and rehabilitate this God given gift to Pangasinenses.
And definitely not the city government with its sustained tourism promotion and major improvement in the park had lured an average of 150, 000 local and foreign tourists a year on visiting the Hundred Islands and the province of Pangasinan.
As one of the media practioneers said, it seems that Braganza administration is just being politicized by the provincial government in retaliation to the mayor’s stand against illegal numbers games and Governor Amado Espino shotgun project.
There’s likewise the sinister plot to destroy the image of the visionary city mayor and the glaring attempt of provincial government to take over the management of the park, another media man hinted.
When told that the provincial government had already asked the DOT, DENR and PTA to investigate on the Bolodeco issue, Braganza’s reply was quick.
“We welcome any probe. I’m also inviting our good governor and our congressman to visit us so that we could conduct an ocular inspection in the area together.”
After all, there’s nothing wrong in the HINP and that the City government has nothing to hide.
And therefore, Gov. Espino and Cong.Celeste should start asking for the Alaminians’ forgiveness for their false and irresponsible statements that affected the city and the province’s tourism industry. (CIO)
Source
