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Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Alarm over treasure hunting in Lake Maughan
OFFICIALS of T'boli town in South Cotabato are expressing alarm over the reported presence of an armed group, believed to be treasure hunters, near crater-lake Holon (formerly Lake Maughan).
T'boli Vice Mayor Bobby Munday said the armed group, composed of seven to eight men, have encamped in one of the areas near the mouth of the 304-hectare lake, which is located atop the Mt. Melibengoy (formerly Mt. Parker) mountain range.
"We are alarmed because we have no idea who they really are and what they're doing in there right now," Munday recently told reporters.
The vice mayor said he was informed of the presence of the armed group through a text message last Sunday from T'boli Municipal Government personnel manning the monitoring station in barangay Salacafe.
He said the armed group reportedly came to the area aboard a van through Barangay New Dumangas, one of the villages adjacent to Mt. Melibingoy.
Munday said villagers suspect the armed men belong to a group of treasure hunters who have been trying to locate a supposed cache of sunken Yamashita gold bars at the bottom of the lake.
Legend has it that the infamous Japanese general stashed a cache of gold bars at the lake during the Second World War.
In September 1995, one of the lake's walls collapsed, releasing about 30 million cubic meters of water downstream. It triggered flashfloods along the lake's river-tributaries killing 80 people and destroying more than P100 million worth of crops, properties, and infrastructure.
The incident was initially blamed on the alleged blasting of one of the lake's walls in an attempt to recover the supposed treasures though this was never proven.
Munday already reported the matter to the Provincial Government, the provincial police office, and the army's 27th Infantry Battalion.
"If indeed they are treasure hunters, they should be restricted from the area as they might harm the lake and its environs," he said.
The T'boli local government and the Provincial Disaster Coordinating Council have been jointly monitoring the activities at the crater-lake Holon and Mt. Melibingoy, both declared as protected areas. (Allen V. Estabillo)
For Bisaya stories from General Santos.Click here. (This section is updated every Monday)
(September 18, 2006 issue)
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