Sawsawan fishers seek Soc's intervention anew

Fishermen who are at odds with the owners of a restaurant being constructed in barangay Tanke in Talisay City yesterday sought once again the assistance of Mayor Socrates Fernandez in connection with a disputed shore area where fishermen had regularly been using to tie up their boats.

The fishermen, belonging to Pundok sa mga Gagmay'ng Mananagat sa Sawsawan, alleged that their nipa hut where their boats are berthed is in danger of being demolished by the restaurant management.

Barangay Captain Jovita Mabala of Tanke led the group to city hall to see Mayor Socrates Fernandez yesterday but Fernandez was out of his office at the time.

However, city legal officer Aurora Econg wrote a letter the fishermen would present to Chuan Sing Yu, one of the owners of the restaurant being constructed on the lot owned by Cebu City Councilor Procopio Fernandez.

Econg indicated in the letter that the owners should refrain from disturbing the "present situation" while the mayor negotiates with the owner of the lot next to Fernandez's where the fishermen could berth their boats.

Mabala, in an interview, said after the fishermen had met with the mayor and the restaurant owners recently they presumed that the fishermen could still use the shore area fronting the restaurant and that the owners would not touch it.

The fishermen have also been trying to lease the property, which is a public domain, fronting Fernandez's lot. However Fernandez, who owns the adjacent lot, had already applied for lot's lease with the Community Environment and Natural Resources Office and the application is likely to be approved.

Thus, Mayor Fernandez assured the fishermen that he would negotiate with the owners of another lot, which lies next to the lot Councilor Fernandez had applied for, for the fishermen. - Liv G. Campo