Now fake Bantay Dagat personnel

Last week, I wrote about regional fisheries director Sonia Seville’s complaint about the alleged inaction of local executives in curbing the activities of illegal fishers in their respective offshore areas.

This time, Iloilo Gov. Niel Tupas explained that the four provincial Bantay Dagat personnel who allegedly released apprehended illegal fishers off Carles town were actually only poseurs. Actually, they were not bona fide Bantay Dagat members.

Tupas identified them as Kating Jausto, Pablo Panique, Romie Baklas and Arnold Pilar, according to Panay News’ Gerome Dalipe IV.

All are reportedly Carles residents. The town is 142 kilometers north of Iloilo City. It is one of the richest fishing grounds of the province.

Tupas, however, pointed out that he is wondering why Carles Mayor Felipe Bernal has not done anything to arrest the four. Tupas himself directed Bantay Dagat Task Force members of the province to search for the four men, put them under arrest, and file the corresponding charges against them.

Early in his term, Tupas picked Carles as the pilot area for his Bantay Dagat program. The reason: Carles used to be the richest fishing ground of the province. Over the years, however, illegal fishing, including the use of dynamite, has depleted the rich marine population of the area.

Carles is in the fifth district, the bailiwick of Tupas who used to be the congressman of the district before he ran for governor.

The provincial government recently scored in its fishery conservation drive when its lawmen arrested eight crewmembers, including the captain of a midwater trawl off Carles’ Sicogon Island.

Provincial fishery officer Fernando de Castro reported to Tupas that the suspects were charged with violation of Section 89 of the Philippine Fisheries Code in the Balasan municipal court.

Called palupad, the midwater trawler catches fish at high speeds using long nets as they cruise up to mid-sea.

Skipper Armando Obre, of Culasi, Roxas City, and seven of his crewmen are now facing charges.

That brings to mind another report of fake law enforcers. In Bacolod recently, the National Bureau of Investigation’s local office warned local businessmen and residents about the activities of fake NBI agents who are reportedly going around enforcing the Intellectual Property Act. And they actually just wish to gain access to offices and residences by pretending to examine fake CDs and DVDs but end up divesting the owners of goods and cash.

Bacolod police chief Pedro Merced has asked his men to respond immediately to appeals for help or verification by local residents.

In short, there just are too many "bogus" lawmen. It’s time for the police and the NBI to track down these counterfeit lawmen.

Arroyo joins UNA

Fifth district Rep. Ignacio Arroyo, the presidential brother-in-law, recently joined the United Negros Alliance led by Negros Occidental Gov. Joseph Marañon. That virtually sews up the provincial political network under UNA. And to top it all, the UNA members also joined Kampi, the President’s own party.

The reason was to show the solidarity of the Negrenses.

Incidentally, what makes it more dramatic is the fact that Marañon had backed the late opposition presidential bet — Fernando Poe Jr. That happened just shortly before the presidential polls. And for a while, there were bets that President Arroyo would lose Negros Occidental by a large margin of votes. Instead, she turned around the situation and won by an overwhelming majority.

Thus, the union of forces of GMA and Marañon is considered a major political development that makes Negros Occidental a single political party place.

There are only a handful of Lakas-NUCD and members of other political parties in the province.

Cremation gains ground

I attended lately the cremation of two close friends — the late Dr. Oscar Ascalon and Hernani Maalat.

Maalat, according to the crematorium management, was their 45th client. Before that, Ascalon, a war hero, was also cremated in the only crematorium in the province — that of the Chinese Cemetery. Another crematorium is reportedly being planned.

But contrary to past practice, cremation seems to have become suddenly the local fad among elite families of the province.

And, yes, often Negrenses who died abroad made sure their remains would be cremated instead of being shipped back intact at tremendous cost. Thus, with the ashes only in urns, the family of the deceased saves a lot of expenses.

And as pointed out by several surviving family members of the crematorium’s latest clients, that also saves a lot in terms of investments in lots in memorial parks. And then there’s another side to it. Families of the dead have the chance to shy away from visiting cemeteries on All Saints’ and All Souls’ Day. Instead, they can honor their dead or meditate on their past with the ashes in urns displayed in their homes. Even in the bedrooms.

The Catholic Church has tolerated the practice. But as some Catholic leaders point out, there is still the requirement that the ashes have to be buried in the ground after cremation.

I haven’t heard of that from Church officials. But I suppose that sooner or later, diocesan authorities must explain clearly the Church position on the issue. Otherwise, there will be a lot of speculations as to what the official position of the Church is.

Now that the fad is developing, it becomes imperative that the faithful be properly guided on what is the official position of the Church on the practice, which it had frowned upon in the past.

Now that we are about to mark All Saints’ and All Souls’ Day, the more imperative for the clarification amid the contradictory interpretations of the Church’s teaching on the matter.

ADDENDA: I just received a text message from Save our Language through Federalism president Dr. Joey Dacudado that SOLFED representatives put tagalistas on the defensive when they accosted them on their preferential interpretation of documents in Tagalog and their refusal to furnish SOLFED members the vernacular or ethno-linguistic translations. One reportedly replied that Ilonggo was not Filipino. But Dr. Dacudado riposted that "I am also an Ilonggo and I am a Filipino." You can be sure that SOLFED is going to resurrect in more dramatic fashion the debate over the Filipino language which, SOLFED members believe, remains undefined despite the insistence by tagaligtas that Tagalog is it… Low-lying areas of Negros Occidental went under water two days ago. Among the worst-hit were E.B. Magalona of northern Negros Occidental and Victorias City. In the latter, two barangays were inundated. Surprisingly, E.B. Magalona Mayor Alfonso Gamboa and I were just discussing the hydrologic findings of PAGASA technicians and their recommendations when he was reached via cellphone about the flash floods that hit several of the "catchbasins." That was a prophetic discussion.