Ubay fish warden nets BFAR achievers award

ooPROTECTING marine resources has assured Ubay fish wardens not just sustainable food but recognition as well. In this year's search for the Most Outstanding Bantay Dagat in region 7, Ubay's marine law enforcement team topped other teams assessed by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) in their yearly search for Outstanding Fisheries Achievers Awards.

The search is one of the major activities of BFAR 7 in celebration of the National Fish Conservation Week. Receiving the awards for Ubay last Friday afternoon October 29, at the SM Food Court activity Center was Mayor Eutiquio Bernales. With him were Sangguniang Bayan Members Allan Abad, Efren Tanjay, Maximo Boyles and Diogracias Butawan. Also there was Alpios Delima, Ubay Coastal Resource Management Coordinator, Bgy. Capt Nasario Avenido of Humayhumay Fish Warden and Julius Boiser, mayor's private secretary. Reacting to the recognition especially when the town sits right in the middle of the world's most bio-diverse seas, Bernales said that the town's achievement has elated him and the local officials.

The award plays second to the premium that the town gets from an efficient coastal and marine resource protection for Danajon reef, local officials said. Meanwhile, local police here scored a corollary victory with the arrest of two women during a buy bust operation against illegal drugs. Charged in violation of Sec. 11 of Republic Act 9165 or possession of dangerous drugs were 36 year old Zenaida Mendez and 33 year old Florabelle Soriso of Barangay Tapon here.

The buy-bust team was composed of PSupt. Eduardo Saavedra, Chief of Police and PO2 Gerry Monceller along with two undercover operatives who acted as pursuer buyers. Long under surveillance, the two single women have been under police scopes for their scrupulous business. When the police surveillance operations yielded positive leads, they set up an elaborate plan to spread the bait using two operatives. With a bust operation successfully done last October 18, 2006 at 9:00 in the morning, police team under Oplan Banat apprehended Mendez, jobless as she was about to keep the marked P300 while the team also implicated Soriso.

Soriso, single resident of same place owns the store where the buy-bust happened and was identified as the one who gave the two small sachets of crystalline substances believed to be metampethamine hydrochloride or shabu and two rolled tinfoils. Police also confiscated the items as evidence, which were immediately brought to the PNP crime laboratory, Camp Dagohoy , for laboratory examination.

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