White pebbles illegally taken from ‘Blue Lagoon’ confiscated

APARRI, Cagayan — Police confiscated last Friday more than a thousand sacks of white pebbles illegally gathered from Calinebneb Point on Fuga Island, dubbed as the "Blue Lagoon" in Northern Luzon.

Superintendent Rodrigo de Gracia, provincial police director, told The STAR that the shipment of export-quality white pebbles, sought mostly by Europeans, was about to be loaded on a Manila-bound vessel when a joint team of the police and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, led by Superintendent Alexander Rafael of the First Provincial Mobile Group and the DENR’s Rodolfo Naupal, intercepted it.

Aparri Mayor Ismael Tumaru said the white pebbles are bought at P20 per sack on Fuga Island, some six kilometers off Claveria town, but are sold at P150 per sack to wholesale buyers here.

Police have arrested 17 pebble gatherers, and are still tracking down their suspected financier.

Cagayan Gov. Edgar Lara said the provincial government has not issued any permit for the gathering of white pebbles from Fuga Island.

Blessida Diwa, regional director of the Department of Tourism, said foreign tourists have started frequenting the paradise island after discovering its unpolluted waters, virgin forests, pearly white pebbles and pristine water sources.

Chief Superintendent Jeffrey Soriano, Cagayan Valley police director, hailed the Cagayan police command for its campaign in protecting the mineral resources of Fuga Island and other atolls off the province despite the lack of patrol boats.

SPO4 Jane Binnayug, information officer of the Cagayan police, said their men use a rented single-engine boat locally known as lampitaw when they patrol mineral-rich islands.