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Posted by Lani on Tuesday, September 12th, 2006 at 9:44 am
Last year, I wrote about fishermen recovering World War II wreckage at Lapog Bay and selling the scraps of metal by the kilo. A week ago, I got a tip that a barge is in the waters of Sabangan and fishing out bulks of metal from the sunken ships. From what I gather from folks living in the area, the barangay captain of Sabangan and the municipal mayor gave permission for the chartered barge to recover the wreckage.
For sure, money changed hands or will be changing hands because it is clear that some local officials made a deal with treasure hunters (those who rented and sent the barge to recover the wreckage). It is so disheartening that such historical heritage - the remains of the sunken ships, mute witnesses to the inferno that Lapog Bay became during World War II - are now leaving the shores of Lapog. I remember forwarding to the Sangguniang Bayan the feedback from Engr. Alfonso Quilala, Jr. to the first article, about the need to preserve our historical heritage, the text of which can be read here. I did not receive a response from the town council. Neither, I presume, did Engr. Quilala. I guess this recent development – the recovery of the wreckage by a chartered barge – is their kind of response.
Having been in the sea for decades, the sunken vessels have been washed near the shore and they have been getting in the way of fishermen’s nets. Granted that the remains are now encumbering the livelihood of fishermen, the least that local authorities could do, if they want to sell the remaining parts of the ships as scrap metal, is to monitor the recovery activities and salvage whatever is worth keeping as evidence of World War II activity in Lapog Bay. But I guess some people just can’t appreciate history or anything that has got to do with it.
We took a raft and went to the barge, a few meters offshore, and talked to the barge operator. We asked for some items that could be used as museum pieces so that at least we have evidence of the historicity of Lapog Bay. These are what we got, one appears to be some marker, the other two, bombs. We were told there were a few sacks full of these bombs recovered.
As of yesterday, the recovery activities have been stopped. Apparently, when the barge crossed to the waters of Saoang (which is adjacent to Sabangan), the barangay captain (of Saoang) complained because they were not included in the bargain (read: share in the proceeds). Sabangan was promised 10% of the sales proceeds of the wreckage. Where will 90% of the proceeds go: to the LGU coffers or to someone else’s pockets? Your guess is as good as mine.
Money or integrity? That is the question.
1 | Joy September 12th, 2006 at 9:31 pmI was disheartened while reading your article about how insensitive the local government officials are when it comes to saving the sunken ship during world war II. As the title of your article said “Some people just don’t get it” is very fitting description of their lack of understanding in the importance of history in economic activity.
Many historical places contribute economic activity and commerce by attracting more tourists to the area. Europe attracts a lot of tourists due to its rich historical attractions. Locally, all the areas that have historical significance are more prosperous than places that have no historical value.
There are ways for certain town or city to attract tourism. Some create theme parks, zoos, art galleries, buildings, or cultural events. We do not need to create one, we just have to restore the sunken ship. By virtue of the sunken ship’s historical significance and for the ship being suitably located in a more panoramic bay is to our advantage. Let us imagine a surfaced ship that can be restored to its original appearance. People will be interested to go and see the inside of the ship. One of the main attractions of Hawaii is to show their WWII vintage ships. We will attract students from other towns to visit the place who would want to see WWII vintage ship and at the same time will be able to camp and relax at the nearby beach resorts. If it is physically impossible or financially unfeasible to bring the ship at the surface, then it can be used as diving site. This ship wreckage will be expanded to create large marine aquarium at its proximity for biological science students. There are many things we can do to create more economic activity in our town, we just have to take advantage of the town’s natural beauty of the sea and the mountain and coupled with its historical importance, will generate interest for people to come and visit the place.
Selling the ship for scrap is short sighted! The idea of using it for tourism will benefit the town in the long run. More people coming to our town will increase commerce and this will definitely help justify the construction of the new market and relocating the municipal hall along the highway.
There must be some ways to prevent the ship from being sold into mere scrap. The historical society of Ilocos Sur or the government of Ilocos Sur should be informed about this to be able to file an injunction from the court. I think it is imperative for the people of San Juan to save this ship from being sold for scrap. We are calling all concerned Lapoguenians to exert their efforts and use their influence to prevent this blatant act of vandalizing the only participation of our town to national historical events.
2 | Alfonso S. Quilala Jr. September 13th, 2006 at 2:14 amThis is sheer horse crap!!! Finally, we get an opportunity to play a major role in preserving “World History” in our own town of San Juan and some people are just too ignorant to recognize that by allowing treasure hunters to just take away these World War II treasures for profit! Boy, that’s just pure BS! What hurts the most is the fact that the very people who are allowing this to happen are the ones we thought are intelligent enough to know and understand the importance of preserving such historical items. This is a betrayal of trust and confidence by our local leaders, plain and simple. The Philippine law has provisions on these matters and concerned Lapoguenios has to go legal on this issue. Lapoguenios, specially the ones living in Lapog has to take an active role for it affects them directly. We must seek legal avenues to prevent our local leaders from exploiting these historical artifacts. We must bring this to the attention of any government institution that is responsible for restoring and preserving historical items. The exploitation of these World War II items is preventable. Lapoguenios must act fast before the head honcho says, ” shove it people!”
BP
3 | Ben September 13th, 2006 at 7:59 amThanks, everyone, for the comments. We did consider looking into possible laws that would prevent them from pushing through with this activity. We still are. What I am vacillating about is what happened with the SMART mobile phone tower issue (about which I wrote and posted in Sept. 2004, please check the Archives). After two public hearings, we expected the town council to issue a decision. The planned construction of the tower did not push through. We, however, did not receive any concrete proof of decision from the town council, or if they did write one, we (in the core group of lobbyists) did not receive a copy. Now, I wonder how seriously they took the issue.
However, we will try to contact anyone here who can help stop the recovery of the wreckage altogether, for the sake of our historical heritage. I’ll keep you all posted on things.
4 | Lani September 13th, 2006 at 9:00 amDamn…This place used to be my playground. Didn’t realize the magnitude of historical objects at the Sabangan beach. Seeing the barge to recover the wreckage and sell for mere scrap metals
5 | Tony Rabanal September 13th, 2006 at 2:15 pmis unthinkable. The historical artifacts are priceless. There is no way in ‘heaven’ these artifacts should be sold at all. I know the captain of Sabangan and I can not believe he agreed to this shortsighted endeavor. From afar, I will do some long distance lobbying but it has its limit. We definitely need the locals to exert their influence and stop this scrap business immediately. We must support this cause. Time is of the essence. Future generations are depending on us to do something now and preserve whatever is left.
Totally hair raising news! I am having goosebumps while reading the article. First, the fact that there are these “pieces” on our town, pieces that could help solve/prove the missing answers to quetsions left by history. History, not only to our town’s but to the whole country’s as well. Second, the municipal government and the barangay office actually conceded to this act??? D*mn!!!
My guess is as good as yours??? You don’t even have to guess at all!
Thanks Mg Lani for stepping up to let us know about issues like these affecting our beloved Lapog.
6 | Owen September 13th, 2006 at 5:21 pmWe can not bring our wealth to our grave…..
We, as Lapoguenians, must work together to find a meaningful significance for our town\’s success!! By collecting and gathering artifacts we find in our surrounding areas … are priceless.
These artifacts which are of great importance to humankind are invaluable history collections!!
Please think clearly and precisely for the benefit of your children, your town, your country, and definitely for the answers to our forefather\’s unanswered story!!! Go for the history and not for the money!!!
God Bless!
7 | Jane September 16th, 2006 at 1:31 amThanks for the moral support, kailian! We’re continuing to monitor the recovery activities, which sadly, is continuing because as of last update, the contractor of the barge confirmed the deal with the mayor has been sealed, and they were told, “alaen yo aminen.” Sigh! I’m currently looking into laws that could possibly provide legal means to stop the “looters.”
8 | Lani September 16th, 2006 at 11:09 amI remember the movie “Traders of the Lost Ark” it was so nice perhaps if we should not let the looters go for it not to mention also about the intervening interests of some politicians or government officials involved there shall i say.Sad to the fact that with this starving life now everybody is gonna having the motto….SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST… we should have to preserve it those scrap metals found…as they say..theres MONEY IN WASTE…..so then …..whom to blame???????????????
9 | florida bondad santiago September 16th, 2006 at 6:02 pmIts the chance of Lapog to be one of the tourist attraction with the FIND , but… its going to waste with the looks of it. I hope our kailians in Lapog do something like going to the higher authority and bypass the mayor of his decision to sell it out. Are there NGO’s that help with restoration ? Can we involve the tourism secretary with this?
10 | Ed September 17th, 2006 at 2:36 pmI agree with Ed. I think we have to do a couple of things. First, we have to make every Lapoguenio AWARE of the matter, at home and abroad. We must start somekind of a campaign where averyone is alerted to this stupidity. Circulate a letter on line where everyone can attached their names. The letter has to be addressed to our BRILLIANT mayor and must express our outmost disgust of his actions. Then the letter will be delivered to him when we get a good number of signatures. Second, we must bring this to the attention of the national government, and not the local government. We go straight up to the top. The Dept. of Tourism is a good place to start. Finally, bring the media in. We take the issue out of Lapog and bring it to the national scene. Television is a very strong tool. We must act and act NOW! Let everybody know.
11 | Ben September 21st, 2006 at 2:40 pmIt gives me a great pride to see town mates being concerned of the sunken ship that are being trawled and sold for scrap. I was hoping that our responses to this article will help encourage Lani to do something to stop the recovery. But I think we need to do more than just responding to this thread. As Ben suggested, we need to make every Lapoguenios to be made aware of the situation. In order to organize lobbyist to stop the retrieval of the historical objects, Lani will definitely need some financial resources. I am sure many concerned Lapoguenios will be willing to contribute for this purpose. I am personally appealing to those living abroad to contribute for this endeavor. I would suggest Lani to open up an account for the sole purpose of paying the expenses related to the move of stopping the recovery of the wreckage. For transparency, Lani will report those who contributed using this thread and hopefully will encourage more people to donate. The excess fund can readily be donated to the health center in buying medicine for the poor after this wreckage ship undertaking.
Try to visit the site www.airgroup4.com. It shows pictures during the last stages of World War II in the Pacific and South China Sea. One of the picture shows the aerial view of bombing of the ships that were docked at Lapog Bay. As you can see from the web site, this is the only picture that was taken from a fighter plane VF-4 Hellcat after bombing a target.
See also this page at this site. It shows the copy of Presidential Decree #374 also known as The Cultural Properties and Protection Act. This law might apply to our case. If the area would have been declared as historical site as I have suggested it before then this law surely applies. I am hoping that the provincial government might in some way considered it as historical site then hopefully we can use this law. Calling all lawyers of Lapoguenios origin to help research and assist Lani for this purpose.
I do hope Lani will be able to use the historical accounts and pictures shown in the website in dealing with the government agencies that have the power to stop the activity of the scrap metal contractor.
12 | Alfonso S. Quilala Jr. September 23rd, 2006 at 2:01 am[…] I thought that instead of replying to all the comments on the post about the wreckage, I’ll post a new entry to make it more visible and accessible, given the importance, and urgency, if I may add, of the issue at hand. […]
13 | Lapoguenio Perspectives » Let’s all take up the cause September 23rd, 2006 at 11:45 amactually, “some people really do get it — in cash!” to you Ms. Lani, you have to contact The National Museum of the Philippines regarding this matter. I atttended a alecture on Illicit trafficking of cultural heritage with Dr. Sandy Salcedo the Deputy Executive Director of the National Museum, he cited PD 374, which is very relevant to your (our) predicament. You can click this link or copy and paste on your browser: http://nmuseum.tripod.com/cultural2.htm#AN UPDATED PRIMER ON PRESIDENTIAL DECREE
14 | jack September 25th, 2006 at 1:24 pmThank you very much, Jack! Yes, next on our list to contact is the National Museum.
15 | Lani September 25th, 2006 at 1:41 pm