SCUTTLEBUTT

Guo clone in Catanduanes?

The mystery behind Bamban Mayor Alice Cuo is not an isolated phenomena.

A netizen, through Facebook, is calling on the government to investigate the seemingly Chinese expansion on the said island in the Bicol region, identifying their province’s governor and vice governor as brothers and both of their parents as well as their wives as full-blooded Chinese.

With the seat of authority on the island, families of Chinese descent have accumulated almost all the properties there, from beachfront lots to ship refueling stations, malls, bus companies, markets, private cemeteries, resorts, hotels and restaurants. Name it, they have it.

The netizen also claims that the family owns media outfits in their province, such as radio stations, tabloids and newspapers including the Catanduanes Tribune.

Moreover, the family monopolizes copra and abaca businesses while allegedly operating an illegal coal mine in the province where these are said to be brought to China. The dynasty also holds all public ports and private wharves, including arrastre, at all Catanduanes gateways.

Chinese ships or marine vessels are also often seen coming near the island.

Thus, concern is raised about the governor suddenly constructing a shipyard in Palnab Del Sur right next to an oil depot, citing that the construction is opposed by most of the residents, including the Diocese of Virac, as this will destroy the Kinaw Reef, where the people source marine life for their food and livelihood.

The shipyard also faces the Benham Rise which makes its presence doubly suspicious.

Give away guardians

Covering agencies’ activities is routine for a reporter since it is necessary to obtain a story.

At the recent Kapihan sa DAR (Department of Agrarian Reform), agency officials especially Undersecretary Niña Taduran and Amihilda Sangcopan gave a proper briefing to the media.

However, staff of the DAR’s public information or communication group should have been given orientation on how to handle the media.

After the Kapihan sa Bagong Pilipinas affair, which the Presidential Communications Office sponsored, DENR’s public information officials shooed reporters away from getting a token supposedly reserved for them, which is a basket of goodies.

TV crews were told that one basket is allotted per TV station. This reporter, who just wanted to ask a few questions to Taduran was told instead there was another guy from the paper who had received the token.

To cut the chase short, the public information officers were too busy minding the tokens that they were oblivious of other concerns of reporters in the coverage including the need to interview an official.