PINOYAPACHE GOES SCUBASURERO

AS THE WORLD’S POPULATION increased, so is garbage produced by humans. These garbage found its way to the coastlines and in our world’s oceans. It is so sad to note that most of our food comes from the sea where most of these waste end up strangling the marine creatures to death or, worse, are found inside its intestines. It is inedible matter and it is death knocking at you soon.

Coastal cleanup campaigns have been here for many years like the annual SCUBASURERO, which was first adopted here in Cebu thirty-two years ago. It is no different from the previous events and it is still participated in by professional and novice scuba divers, resort workers, celebrities, marine biologists, environmental advocates, civil servants, coast guard and navy frogmen, media, bloggers and, for this year, a couple of bushmen.  

Today, September 16, 2017, I got invited by Project Blue for the SCUBASURERO. This is in observance of the 32nd International Coastal Cleanup Day which would be held on selected foreshore and coastal areas of the country. For this particular activity in Cebu, I will get to witness and participate as a blogger and as participant at the Bluewater Maribago Beach Resort, Barangay Maribago, Lapulapu City.

Also coming with me is one of the founding fathers of the Camp Red Bushcraft and Survival Guild – Ernie Salomon. Both Ernie and I are not here on a picnic. We are here to literally wet our pants on an environment that is part of the domain of bushcraft. This time we will not forage food. Instead we will seek out garbage and barely visible items that do not belong to the sea. We will be spending time as volunteers for the coastal cleanup.

Erik Monsanto and Ryan Salutin of Bluewater Maribago Beach Resort welcomed us and invited us to take breakfast at Allegro, the resort’s main dining hall and restaurant offering buffet-style service. Joining us on the table is Balbino “Ka Bino” Guerrero, a noted local tour guide specializing in cultural and historical Cebu. He is wearing his trademarked hat popularized by Dr. Jose Rizal. It is always a wonderful time in Allegro.

 

This is my first time to join a SCUBASURERO and I am prepared for salt-water immersion. Volunteers slowly arrived and boarded a water taxi from the beach to a sandbar that became an island across the lagoon. Overhead, a couple of F-50A/E Eagles whizzed by, currently the pride of the Philippine Air Force. The sandbar is now populated by people with wetsuits and there is someone talking from a megaphone.

We crossed over there and the program is about to commence. Free tanks of oxygene were provided by Bluewater Maribago Beach Resort to support this advocacy and divers were much happy to use it and add the minutes to their dive logs. Tents were also provided as shaded resting areas. Drinking water, meanwhile, are made available free for everyone. It is a very warm day and the coolness of the sea beckoned everyone.

The cleanup commenced after a general briefing by the Lapulapu City DRRMO and the assignment of areas to the volunteers. When I was younger, I yearned to swim underwater like them but opportunity never knocked on me. As I piled up in years, I content myself with skin diving. It is expensive, you know. You do not spend for it one time. You need to visit the reefs and deeper water regularly and you spend more for that.

Facing the Hilutungan Channel is a marine sanctuary. No one had cleaned up this part and I waded underneath the jetty and found unbroken bottles, rusty cans, a piece of plywood and beer cans amidst a forest of sea grass. As I go deeper, I see transparent nylon lines and slowly pull it from underneath the grass. At its end are ingenious contraptions that caught a 6-inch grouper and an elver. 

The underwater traps were left there for a purpose. It is illegal to catch fish with any means from a marine sanctuary. Whoever that person be, he was using his head. I admired the person’s ingenuity and the stealth to achieve that. So bushcraft. But that does not mean I totally agree with him. Let us respect our laws and let us protect marine sanctuaries. These are the breathing places so our stocks of marine resources could recover.  

As I returned with the retrieved garbage and the traps with its catch, Erik hand me a rubber suit large enough to fit me, plus a pair of fins, a mask, a breathing apparatus, a full oxygene tank and an instructor. I was caught off-guard and, then it came to bear on me, that I fancied these things when I was younger. You see, one of the skills that I was very interested of learning in my early years was scuba diving.

I never have that chance, specially now that I do not have the means to engage in it. But, today, I have all the opportunity. Why not? Bring it on. My instructor proceed with his job as he gave me field instructions and safety procedures which would have taken an hour or more to learn in a normal learning environment. After 10 minutes on dry ground, I used the valves to deflate and inflate underwater, navigate in two meters depth and remove water from my face. Standard entry level instructions.

After a half hour of tracking an underwater trail, fighting the current and my buoyancy and re-learning to breathe through my mouth, I felt I have done much for the day. It was a good experience to be swimming underwater with oxygene and I felt a little of motion sickness and a little of nausea. One thing that I missed that would have stabilized my diving were dead weights. Lacking that, I exerted more effort to fight buoyancy and the tide.

My windpipe is burning and dry as I detached the tube from the mask to the breathing apparatus. Slowly, I remove tank and flippers and set my sights to the dispenser, hoping I could squeeze cold water. By now, the volunteers began to gather the garbage on the sand. Someone begins to document the things placed on a weighing scale. A voice from a megaphone elicits a lot of clapping hands, signifying a successful event.  

The tables are now ready for a boodle-fight meal and everybody picked his own place around the tables and proceed with stuffing themselves with the food. I joined the sharks in a feeding frenzy in the middle of the day on the middle of the sandbar. I looked around and I see Ernie. He is wearing the same dry clothes I last saw him. I thought he was also given dive gears. I did not know that Ernie is one of those typical people who are afraid of water. Typical bushman.

We later learned that the garbage retrieved today totalled close to one ton. That is a lot. Where could the garbage came from? A few were dropped accidentally, carelessly and more of that were deliberate. Most of the garbage were brought in by tide and current. We do not know how much volume of plastic garbage passed by the coastlines of Maribago that have escaped our discovery? It could be more. I know it is more.

SCUBASURERO could only do less. It is done just once a year. It is also expensive because organizers and establishments provide pressurized oxygene tanks so garbage could be brought up to dry ground from the shallows and depths by volunteers who are into scuba diving. Nevertheless, because of dedication, some individuals and organizations have not lost faith and continued to pursue this advocacy for 32 years.

These garbage came from people and places far away from here and I know it started from streams and culverts near our homes. It is washed away during heavy downpours and dumped where stream meets channel waters. When will we start disposing our garbage properly? We love to eat food from the sea and do you know how much poison we unintentionally eat every week? Please do not allow plastic and other waste to reach the sea. Help in your own small way.

The 32nd International Coastal Cleanup Day is brought to you by the Ocean Conservancy, the Lapulapu City Government, the Community Environment and Natural Resources Office, and by the greenest resort of Mactan Island – Bluewater Maribago Beach Resort, spearheaded by their own Project Blue.

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PINOYAPACHE GOES TO SAMAL ISLAND

I PROMISED TWO YEARS ago that I would attend the 2nd Omega Pelta Kappa Fraternity and Sorority National Convention to be hosted by the Zeta Chapter of Davao City on September 9, 2017. This, I made in writing for everyone to read, after the conclusion of the 1st OPK National Convention held in Cebu City last September 2015. Later I faced a dilemma, when the date was fast approaching: that I simply do not have the funds to be there. 

It is not easy to just forget about it. No it is never in my character. I gazed at heaven for manna. I was about to give up to that idea when a fellow Peltan, now based abroad, promised to shoulder my airplane fares should I be interested to go to Davao and attend it. Then another of our sister promised to take care of the billeting before and during the national convention. I did not ask for all of that but it came my way. God is Great! Thank you! Thank you my gracious sponsors. You are heaven sent. Thank you.

I was scheduled to fly from Cebu on September 7 but, by the quirks of the regularly delayed flights with which this particular airline is famous for, my flight was rescheduled on the night of September 8, just in time to be with my brothers and sisters celebrating a pre-convention party in Matina Town Center, one of Davao City’s popular watering holes and we occupied the front tables. It was like we were college students again. Actually, this was the day that OPK was founded 52 years ago.

During that joyous affair, I witnessed the military conducting checkpoint on the entrance to the rock concert event. The whole of Mindanao was under Martial Law due to the war against terrorists in Marawi City which had just ended a few days ago. Threats by armed groups are still present which necessitated drastic measures. The military watched us from the sidelines and would always approach anybody who would take a smoke with stern warnings. The musical event ended at midnight and orders of beer stopped.

Tired from the travel and too much of beer, I joined with other Peltans to rest early – at 02:30 of the following day – at our billeting area in Green Windows Dormitel, so we could start early in the morning for the convention site, which would be at Samal Island. At 05:00, my pre-set alarm woke me up and I get the opportunity to use the common bathroom first. My mindset always worked on situations like this which I learned many years ago in training center barracks.

Yes I prepared for this travel under a Martial Law atmosphere that I came “naked”. I did not bring any blade, not even a small Swiss Army Knife, for I cannot fathom it being confiscated or of me getting investigated because of that. I preferred going “grey”, to go places unnoticed and without arousing attention. I compensate what I lacked by increasing my situational awareness. I know how Martial Law worked because I grew up with it in the years of the Marcos dictatorship (1972-86) and I hated it.

At 08:00, we were now prepared to Samal Island and one vehicle of our convoy got caught by radar speeding in a highway while approaching Sasa Wharf. In Davao City, you are not allowed to cruise over 40 KPH. I appreciate that and it should be applied nationwide. The driver, who is from the Gamma Chapter and unaware about this city ordinance, got a warning instead after one of our hosts interceded. We waited for our turn to board the ferry that would cross a narrow channel into the Island Garden City of Samal.

It is my first time to be in this island, which is known for its mother-of-pearl farms producing cultured pearls. Samal Island was also in the news some two years ago when the Abu Sayyaf went out of their way to kidnap three foreigners while they were in their yacht. After 30 minutes, we arrived at Samal and walked just a few meters to where the convention would be held: Camp Holiday Resorts. It is good to know that the sister who sponsored my billeting, took care also of my registration which is a thousand bucks. Again, thank you.

I got registered without a fuss, took a seat around on one of the tables and did a Peltan handshake to everyone. Familiar faces, from the convention of two years ago, arrived and everybody exchanged niceties, good conversations and hearty laughs of funny memories. Coffee and light meals got served. The convention is scheduled for 18:00, so I looked for my room, which I get to share with two other Peltans. It is a nice airconditioned room with a soft bed, a good view from its terrace and it is not cramped.

After freshening up, I went back to the convention hall wearing the event shirt. The room occupants doubled by this time but, thankfully, I reclaimed my seat. My envelope is still there and, in it, is the event programme. My Lenovo A7000 is still at its place near the electrical outlet, charging power. Too much of WiFi hours ago have drained it of life and now it is gaining battery volume. I need the Android phone for the documentations. I came here because of an obligation – a promise – and, second, as an adventure travel blogger.

Travelling under a Martial Law is adventure. It is another adventure if you do not agree – in principle – to this present government’s penchant for extra-judicial killings and ignoring rule of law. I am a dissenting voice and Davao City is the current president’s hometown. Figuratively, I am in “enemy” territory because I am different from you in thoughts. What would be sauce for you is poison for me and let us agree to disagree with that. I am no stranger to the president and Davao City. I climbed Mount Apo in 1994 and, in 1995, I chased and caught alive a serial killer here which got me an audience with the former mayor. We met twice!

As much as possible, I will try to keep to myself, despite the festive affair, and I will refuse any talks about politics. The program started and the chapters are mentioned. Delta Chapter, the one I belonged to, is now a dying entity, so were every other chapter except where OPK is still very active. It is so sad because we are not getting any younger and the law forbids us to do the usual rituals and processes which had shaped our view of fraternities and sororities, and of our own OPK. It does not work that way anymore and we have a dearth of new blood. I do not know if this convention would adapt to change.

It did not. By design, the idea about PISPI was never mentioned. Burying that to silence is the extension of the leadership council to two more years. They have not done their homework for two years and have nothing to show anything promising and I heard no mild reactions. We are still feeling – or reeling – our way in the dark. I was hoping the advocates for change were here because I was very receptive to that idea. There is a rift somewhere and what is there next in this same setup? PISPI would have given me hope instead of reminiscing about the glory days like school reunions always bring.

When the convention ended, I returned to my room and drank beer to toast to the demise of PISPI and what is left of my OPK. I do not see a good future. I kept to myself on the room’s terrace accompanied by a few Peltans celebrating our 52nd founding years from the rest. Personally, I do not like a crowd and I would rather do socials in anonymity, far from the rest. We all will stay here until tomorrow noon. The exclusivity of a room is much better and it works for me here.

 

The second day, September 10, is reserved for recreation and more socials. Early rising Peltans have already occupied two long rows of table on the general beach area. Breakfasts of native delicacies were provided by our hosts and buckets of cold Red Horse keeps you warmed up. You may have to choose the shoreline or an infinity pool to cool off or bathe on both. I do a short tour around Camp Holiday. There are many amenities and rooms but I would not do a detailed description or content without being asked to.

At 12:00, we moved from Samal Island back to the mainland. Many of us from Cebu has flights back but our hosts decided to treat us for lunch first in Flyover Ihaw-ihaw Restaurant at the Buhangin District. Then someone saw a durian and we proceed to McArthur Highway where it is popularly sold. I love durian and I could eat ten pieces in one setting, which I did in 1997. Today, I am just good for four. It is not that cheap anymore. My OPK sisters and brothers brought boxes of fruit and processed durian with them when they went to the airport.

I remained. My flight is scheduled for tomorrow. Brod Raymund Galot and Brod Ody Lee made it sure that I have a place to stay. I do not have a choice but go back to the Green Windows Dormitel. It is much cheaper and there are not too many guests. I do miss the company of my fellow Peltans. On the street to where it is located are many cheap restaurants which would be favorable for my limited budget. There is not much to do except read a book, Deep Survival by Laurence Gonzales. I always carry a book when traveling.

My last day in Davao fell on a very infamous date – September 11. Subconsciously, that tragic event which came to the US sixteen years ago, could happen anywhere but it has a good chance that it could also happen in Davao now to which a Martial Law preempt such ideas of harm. Brod Raymund came at 11:00 to fetch me. An extended courtesy of my host which I am most indebted to. My flight is at 20:40 yet. We visited first his office to log off from work. He is with the City Engineering Office.

Brod Raymund became my tour guide which I appreciate very much. He brought me to GAP Farming Resort. It is one of Davao’s oldest recreation resort. At its heart is a tunnel system built by the Japanese Army during World War II. After an hour of roaming around, we go down to Riverwalk Exotic Resto Grill. They serve crocodile dishes which meat are sourced from the Davao Crocodile Park. I need to try and I choose crocodile sisig to widen my taste experience. I eat the whole serving to myself.

It is well-spiced to cover something that is related to something fishy. Well it has its own characteristic but one thing that I noticed immediately is that my tooth became achy. It is not a toothache yet but the sensation on my gums indicate that it will. My knees, which once were arthritic, acted like one again, although I could walk without feeling pain. There is just a knot somewhere in there. This crocodile meat has a high uric content or it could be an ingredient which caused my nerve receptors acting crazy. 
 

Brod Raymund brought me at last to the Davao airport at 18:30. In two hours, I would be flying out. A slight delay came. 23:15. I was ready for another delay when an announcement advised us passengers to proceed the boarding gate. I enjoyed my time in Davao and Samal seeing again fellow Peltans and it would take another two years before we meet again with them in Kabankalan City, Negros Occidental – the next host. This time, I will not promise. To those I met, thank you all. I could not name all and you are in my heart. Thank you and may God bless all Peltans!

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