By Henry Empeño / Correspondent
IBA, Zambales—Local fishermen, who salvaged from the sea what are believed to be dredging assemblies used by the Chinese in reclamation projects at the West Philippines Sea, have decided to sell the equipment to the highest bidder.
Gov. Hermogenes E. Ebdane Jr. said this decision was reached by concerned parties during a lengthy consultation last Monday, after initial negotiations between the fishermen and some middlemen fell through.
“The fishermen have decided to auction the equipment and go for the highest bidder,” Ebdane told BusinessMirror on Tuesday during an inspection of the equipment at the coastal sitio of Lanao in Barangay San Agustin here.
“The provincial government will supervise the process so that it will be documented, transparent and favorable to the locals,” Ebdane said, adding that the bidding may be completed “in a month’s time.”
San Agustin Barangay Captain Mario Diaz said that fishermen from his village have retrieved from the sea a total of 34 dredging assemblies. Each assembly is composed of a 12-meter long, 1-meter diameter iron pipe with three plastic-encapsulated foam floaters and flexible rubber connectors.
Nine other assemblies were retrieved by fishermen from Barangay Santo Rosario, while another was found off the coast of Masinloc, two towns north of Iba. Diaz said the fishermen found the still connected assemblies in the sea some six miles away from the coast of Cabangan town at the height of the monsoon rains two weeks ago.
At least nine motor boats manned by locals reportedly worked in concert to tow the mile-long pipe assembly to San Agustin. Ebdane said the assemblies are now under the custody of the provincial government, pending the completion of the bidding process.
“The auction will be made under the principle of ‘finders, keepers’,” the governor said.
“It’s obvious who owns these equipment,” Ebdane added, referring to the Chinese markings on the assemblies. “But if they don’t come forward to claim the equipment—which I doubt they would—then, legally speaking, the ownership would belong to the fishermen under Article 719 of the Civil Code.”
Ebdane said the floating assemblies could have broken off from ships at the reclamation site in the disputed Spratly Islands Group, and sea current could have brought them off the Zambales coast “because the current during monsoons was northeasterly.”
As of Tuesday the San Agustin fishermen have broken the dredging assemblies apart into individual pieces, separating the pipe from the floaters and connectors.
Ebdane had ordered the dismantling of the assemblies over the weekend, saying the connected pipes and floaters may wash into coastal residential areas and harm villagers during storms.
After the governor told the fishermen over the weekend that they may keep their find, some traders have expressed interest to buy the salvaged dredging equipment.
However, the fishermen found out later that the offers made by some middlemen were way below the market price.
Zambales Provincial Engineer Domingo Mariano said the iron pipes could fetch a hefty sum since they are “seamless, zinc-coated pipe” that do not rust in seawater. Each pipe may weigh from three to five tons, he added.
At the minimum price of P6.50 per kilo that some middlemen offered last week, the 34 pipes in San Agustin could easily be worth P600,000.
Ebdane said local officials would like to ensure that the local fishermen would get the best price for their find, pointing out that these same fishers were adversely affected by the conflict at the West Philippine Sea, particularly at the Scarborough Shoal, which has been cordoned off by China since last year.
“We don’t want our local fishermen to be shortchanged in this deal, that’s why we decided to intervene and supervise the disposal,” Ebdane said.