Daanbantayan to withdraw from pact vs. illegal fishing
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Vice-Mayor Maria Luisa Loot announced this during a meeting on Thursday of the Municipal Peace and Order Council.
The municipal council is already set to approve a resolution for the withdrawal of Daanbantayan’s signature from the MOA, said Loot.
What triggered this move was the alleged misconduct of elements of the NBI and the Navy in their operation against illegal fishing in the seawaters of Daanbantayan recently, she said.
Loot lashed out at NBI and Navy men who, she learned, apprehended suspected illegal fishers at the marine sanctuary in Gato Islet but later took the suspects to Sta. Fe. instead of Daanbantayan.
Gato Islet, a diving spot and a declared marine sanctuary, is within the jurisdiction of Daanbantayan, and it would have been proper to turn over to the Daanbantayan government any suspects arrested from the islet, said the vice mayor.
Had the arrested illegal fishermen been turned over to Daanbantayan, it could have imposed the corresponding penalty and fines, which will in turn goes to the coffers of the municipal government.
In a meeting with Governor Gwendolyn Garcia, Loot requested the governor to revoke the MOA signed between the provincial government, at the time of then governor Pablo Garcia, cities and towns for the operation of Visayan Sea Squadron against illegal fishing in the territorial waters of
Loot is one of the mayors who opposed to the agreement but lost to the majority of mayors who signed it.
Under the agreement, every operation of the Visayan Sea Squadron, the Navy, and the NBI must be coordinated with the town or city where the operation is taking place. — Gregg M. Rubio/RAE
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