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Over three months after one of the most calamitous incident that hit Barangay Lingsat, residents, including fishermen is taking the opportunity of a lucrative and easier livelihood through coal-picking.
“It’s like a grand fiesta at the beach everyday,” Tina Hidalgo, a fisherman’s wife here said. Hidalgo added that they have temporarily stopped selling fish around the village as they used to since Holcim, the company who owns the barge of coal which ran aground in a marine sanctuary at the area, has handed over to the Lingsat Barangay officials P3-million as funding for the clean-up and retrieval operations of the spillage.
“A kilo fetches P150,” Hidalgo said in the vernacular. She added that they are only allowed to pick up residues until 12 noon . Fishermen do the diving near the barge and haul them to shorelines.
Near the area also stands a shallow isle of coral reefs and sand mound which serves as a “station” for the pickers before hauling them ashore.
Elvira Hidalgo, Tina’s sister-in-law narrated that her frequent buyers (suki) of fish in the village has been missing her sales lately. The “new” livelihood takes easier effort and makes easier money for now, according to her. The picked heap of coals is then hauled by leased delivery truck.
Gina Ordoño, another fisherman’s wife and former overseas Filipino worker, disclosed, however, that fewer fish catch maybe the consequence of the coal spill, which happened November 4 last year at the onslaught of typhoon Kabayan. A subsequent typhoon Mina, according to City Environmental Officer Valmar Valdez, buried the trapped barge in the corals even more, rendering difficulties in yanking it despite the assistance of bigger barges to free it.
“My husband also dives near the area but not near the barge because it’s too deep,” Ordoño said, who used to sell fresh octopuses around the barangay. “My sukis are looking for me,” she added.
The coastal barangay is where fish consumers find varieties of local baratiktik, tandyan, kurapo, barangan, sungayan, padas, osohos, sea cucumbers and seaweeds known as the grape-type spicy lato or ararosep and barusbos. Ordoño said her husband, who fish by their motorized banca, shifted to diving coals since fish is scanty but cannot confirm is it is due to the coal spill.
“But we are lucky that water cannot penetrate coal and melt it down, the only real pestilence is that the corals have been hammered by the barge’s impact,” Mayor Ortega said. “That as far as (water) pollution is concerned, it is not like an oil spill that really affects the water and the futility of a clean-up is far more possible,”
The Mayor added that he hoped that cleaning-up operation is over in one month to start the rehabilitation of the sanctuary. “Holcim has shown us artificial reefs we will place them there as soon as the coal is removed,” he said.
He added that barangay officials, led by Alejandrino Mondina, were tasked to handle the clean-up operations.
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