EDITORIAL – Taking advantage  of the Tañon explorations

A group of fishermen from Pinamungajan town has asked for help regarding a bogus group of fishermen claiming to be affected by the oil and gas explorations at the Tañon Strait and asking for aid from the contractor, Japan Petroleum Exploration Inc., or Japex. Such complaint, although needing thorough confirmation, is a sad development and is bad for the province’s image. The legitimate fishermen affected by the oil drillings should not wonder if Japex will tighten its hold on the moneybag.

People who take advantage of situations where one can gain either money or material things is nothing new to Philippine society. These kind of people are all around us and they strike whenever there is an opportunity to gain. We hear of these people during calamities where free food and, say construction materials, are given to victims. These people are of the same kind as gatecrashers during weddings and birthday parties.

But while most have gotten accustomed to gatecrashers during parties, people who take advantage of financial assistance to victims of a calamity or beneficiaries of a certain project, are a big problem, especially in projects involving foreigners, as in the case of the oil explorations in the Tañon Strait where the Japanese are involved.

We are not privy to the agreement between Japex and the fishermen affected by the oil explorations. Fishermen asking Japex for financial aid because their livelihood has been affected by the oil drillings is, in itself, already a questionable matter. However, if Japex promised to extend financial assistance, then they probably meant it and really intend to give the promised aid. But the news of a bogus group claiming to be fishermen affected by the oil explorations to be able to claim the promised financial assistance is another problem that might turn off the Japanese firm.

We are experiencing hard times and we acknowledge that people, pushed to the limit, would really find ways to gain even just a sack of rice or a few pesos. But the difficult times we are experiencing is not an excuse for some to take advantage of the aid promised to the legitimate fishermen affected by the oil drillings. The bogus group should think that if their plan to claim aid not intended for them pushes through, then they lied just to feed their family.