He moved his family to a 1-hectare remote island to guard the island

I read this on the Inquirer and I was uber-shocked. This is about a man who moved his family to a 1-hectare remote island to guard the island.

Eh ikaw? If you were tasked by your Barangay Captain to move your family to a remote island para lang bantayan ang islang yon to stop dynamite fishing o kaya hakutin ang sands sa isla na yon, will you go? Truly, if there is another CNN Hero of the year Award, this man deserves the honor.

Back to the Inquirer story.

Fifty-one year old fisherman Guilly Alonar, who grew up in Pandanon Island, said that life in the city would be much better than on the island.”

“Sa siyudad, basta magtiyaga, mas maraming pera dun. Dito sa isla, magtiyaga ka, kakaunti lang ang huli na isda (In the city, as long as you’re hardworking there’s money to earn. Here in the island, even if you work hard, you only catch a few fish,” said Alonar, who lives in the island village along with some 2,000 residents. Pandanon Island is one of the nine island villages of the municipality of Getafe in Bohol province.

According to Alonar, the island has no market but has an elementary school and a health center, with one midwife to help pregnant women give labor. Instead of going to another island, they buy food from middlemen. Alonar, a father of six, sustains his family by fishing and cleaning the beachfront. From fishing alone, he just earns 90 pesos per kilo of fish.

“Kung ako lang, dito na lang din ako sa isla pero may pangarap ako para sa mga anak ko. Gusto ko silang makatapos ng pag-aaral kahit high school lang (If I don’t have a family to feed I can live here but I want my children to finish even high school),” said Alonar, who did not finish his secondary education.

Alonar’s first-born is currently in first year high school in Cempao Village while his other kids are studying at the Pandanon Elementary School. Life in the island may seem complicated for Alonar but not for Adi Tañeca who found contentment and peace in Dumog Island, another island near Bilangbilangan Village in the municipality of Tubigon.

Tañeca, a housewife and mother of three, transferred with her family on the island last November 30 upon the village captain’s request to her husband to look after the island.

“Sinabi kasi ni kapitan na kelangan daw bantayan itong isla kasi maraming nangunguha ng buhangin (The village captain said the island needs to be guarded because of sand here is being carted away),” said Tañeca adding, “Noon, marami din ang nagpapasabog ng dinamita pero nung nalaman nila na may nakatira na dito sa isla, tumigil na. (Dynamite fishing also used to be rampant but not since there are already inhabitants).

Tañeca lives with her family in a humble native nipa hut, which is the lone hut on the island. Her husband is given a sack of rice per month in exchange of guarding the island.

“Kung ako tatanungin, gusto ko dito nalang kami. Noon, ‘yung mga anak ko nagkakasakit doon, dito hindi. Masaya dito kaysa doon sa Bilangbilangan. Maingay dun, dito tahimik talaga (I prefer living here, my kids don’t get sick as much and it’s much quieter in here),” she said.

Ok. Now… was’nt that very noble at nakaka-insulto sa mga demonyo sa Pilipinas like the Ampatuans or like the these corrupt Filipino officials whose only intent eh payamanin ang sarili nila? Yet there are these people who do this – hear this – TO PROTECT OUR ISLANDS. Bigat nun di ba?

Which is crazy, dahil, in another part of the world – inside the Philippines, some people sold the Turtle Islands! Yeah! I thought another group of Spratlys Islands were sold again by the family of YOU KNOW WHO!

I mean, talk about protecting the national patrimony, ang mga impakto at binebenta na ang Pilipinas!

The mayor of the Turtle Islands, Omarkhan Aripin, claimed on Friday that one of the group’s six named islands, Great Bakungan, had been illegally sold for P3 million to the family of Tawi-tawi Gov. Sadikul Sahali by the heirs of Rolando Tan, the claimed owner of the island.(Source: Inquirer)

Ever heard of the Turtle Island in the Philippines? Here’s one really nice site about Turtle Islands. Or the reliable Wikipedia where you’ll see that these islands are quite a breath away from Malaysia.

Sources:
1.) Gov’t to go after Turtle Island sellers, buyers
2.) Visayas island dwellers have contrasting views on life

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Tagged as: Bohol, Dumog Island, Pandanon Island, Turtle Islands