Same thing at Dumalag
PUNTA Dumalag is a strip of land that goes out to the sea in Matina Aplaya.
As such, there is not much land on the strip, just a road some land on the shoulders enough for one or two houses, and then hundreds of other houses that are built above the water.
Several sari-sari stores line the road, some have videoke machines.
Some of them have extended kitchens outside their wooden homes where they cook meals, only that they have to walk on walkways to get from one place to another.
Few of these residents also have built cages beside their homes where they raise pigs and chickens.
Living there, however, has left them with no access to comfort rooms where the only septic tank they know is the expansive sea. Residents there clamor for two tangible necessities, one is a comfort room and the other is a concrete walkway.
Mario dela Cerna, a coastal resident in Punta Dumalag, said they have a comfort room at home where they take a bath, wash clothes, and take a dump, except that they don’t have a septic tank.
Dela Cerna, a father of five children, and his wife have been living at their home that is built on sturdy stilts, as most of the houses, for over eight years now and have not used any comfortable toilets ever since.
He works for local fruit company and his monthly earning goes for the family’s daily consumption. Nothing else is left to buy his children and wife a more descent home.
“Kung magbawas diretso lng sa dagat (If we defecate, the waste goes straight to the sea),” he said while glancing at his children who were eating lunch in a small kitchen not far from where he was seating.
Even with this, he said the only thing he and his family can do to protect the sea from further polluting is to keep their garbage, segregate the biodegradable from non-biodegrable, then wait for the garbage truck to collect their wastes.
According to the residents, they have not experienced having their own toilets for the longest time, and so, human wastes plus that of dogs’ and other domesticated animals like pigs and chickens go directly to the sea.
Ebing (not her real name) said she and her family have been residing there since 2008.
“Ing-ani lang ang among CR (This is our comfort room,” she said while pointing at the hole on the floor in which she said has become their toilet for six years.
Catherine Villegas, a mother of five, said she is aware of the possible environmental and health risks having no toilets at home.
“Naa gyud nay dili maayong epekto, hugaw baya na (There are negative effects because its waste),” she said.
Their simple abode, which they only bought from its previous occupants, was erected about four years ago.
“Ang akong bana ang taga dire, ako taga Mintal (My husband was from here while I came from Mintal),” she said, adding that she decided to stay in Punta Dumalag after she got married.
Villegas said there are personnel from Department of Public Works and High-
ways (DPWH) who come to visit at the barangay hall of Matina Aplaya to do lectures on proper garbage disposal.
She said many of her neighbors, however, cannot make it to the lectures since they are too busy finding ways to earn for the family.
For them, it seems building comfort rooms is a dream so far from reality as what is left of their meager income usually goes to foods and repair expenses of the walkways.
“Kung nindot among latayan, makahimo name og CR. Wala gyud kawarta, kulang pa pangbugas (Only if we have better walkways, we could have saved more for CR. We don’t have enough money, not even enough for rice),” Mary Anne Bahan said.
She said few walkways have become brittle over time, which may be dangerous for the residents if not replaced or repaired at least. The cost of repair, however, cuts the family’s budget, which is intended to buy themselves foods.
“Mag-amot-amot me para ayuhon ang tulay pero wala pa isa katuig madaot na sab (We contribute for the repair of the birdge, but only to be damaged again barely a year after),” she said.
Animal waste, including humans, is what causes the contamination of a coliform like Escherichia coli (E. Coli) in the sea, the presence of which is so rampant in the waters off Punta Dumalag.
It can be recalled that the City Government of Davao issued a closure order on the fish cages there due to high contamination level of E. coli. There were 47 affected operators, with more or release 200 cages.
In a series of microbial analysis on fish and seawater sample results conducted by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) 11 on September 26, 2012, Oc- tober 3, 2012, and October 10, 2012, it showed a tolerable level of E. Coli in the sea where fish cages are.
“The fish flesh analysis showed 3 MPN/g (most probable number per gram) way below the permissible limit of microbial standard requirement for fish and fishery products,” City Agriculturist Office (CAO) chief Valente Turtur said, in his letter to City Mayor Sara-Duterte Carpio last March 6.
The permissible level of E. Coli must not go beyond 11 MPN/g.
Despite this, it seems there’s no stopping on the construction of new houses. For instance, this concrete house, just few meters away from Bahan’s, now nears completion.
“Dili man ako ang tagiya ani. Wala sila (I’m not the owner of this house. They aren’t around,” said a resident who refused to be named.