P1M in corals found in Cebu

Two truckloads of rare shells and corals, worth about a million pesos, were found by police inside a chicken coop on the outskirts of Barangay Punta Engaño, Lapu-Lapu City, Monday morning.

After receiving information from an anonymous source, a Mactan Police Station team led by Senior Inspector Junnel Caadlawon confiscated at 9 a.m. Monday the rare shells and corals kept in two areas in Sitio Malingin.

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When police arrived in the area, they saw some men working there who immediately ran away.

Punta Engaño barangay captain Lourdes Ibag identified the businessman who allegedly owned the chicken coop and exported rare shells abroad.

Police are now looking for him, after the man allegedly fled the area when police arrived.

Mayor Paz Radaza praised members of the Lapu-Lapu City Police Office (LLCPO) and the Unified Task Force on Illegal Fishing for coordinating with each other on their latest catch.

Caadlawon said that when they arrived, different species of shells, including "takobo" or tridacna shells and clams, were found in piles near the shoreline of the sitio.

Aside from shells, different kinds of endangered corals such as acropora, barrel sponges and more than nine species of hard coral were also found packed in boxes inside the abandoned coop.

Members of the Lapu-Lapu City Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Management Council (CFARMC) and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) witnessed the operation.

Caadlawon said the shells and corals, which amounted to almost two truckloads, have an estimated market value of P1 million.

Ibag, in a separate interview, said the chicken coop owner had been collecting rare shells and corals in previous years.

She said the businessman's older brother even reported him to the barangay for conducting illegal activities.

Ibag said that last week, the businessman asked her to issue a certificate to file action against his brother.

After receiving the information from Ibag, Caadlawon immediately ordered his men to look for the businessman.

Ibag revealed that in the previous weeks, she, along with the police, CFARMC and BFAR, met with residents in Punta Engaño and discussed about illegal fishing in the area.

She specifically invited some residents who were allegedly involved in illegal fishing.

Ibag said she told residents that the mayor has promised to provide alternative livelihoods for them as long as they quit illegal businesses.

Mayor Radaza, in a separate interview on Monday, said that City Hall has been providing alternative livelihood, through the Cooperative Livelihood Center.

But she said some illegal fishers would rather depend on other ventures that provide quick cash.

Radaza praised the police and the Unified Task Force for working together.

She said she has provided additional policemen in the Mactan Police Station to further strengthen their campaign against illegal fishing within Punta Engaño, Mactan and Maribago.

This was the second time that Lapu-Lapu City police confiscated rare corals and shells within Punta Engaño this month.

The last time the City operated in the barangay was in the beginning of the month, when the police confiscated more than P5 million worth of corals and shells in Sitio Sinalikway.

Last month, other law enforcement agencies such as the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group and the National Bureau of Investigation conducted operations against Ibag, who allegedly kept rare shells and corals inside her house in the same barangay.