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Friday, June 02, 2006
Ship found in Capiz may be less than 250 years old: team
By Jay Dooma Balnig
ROXAS CITY -- An exploration grouo from the National Museum on Thursday ruled that the ship wreckage is not that of a galleon based on the artifacts and objects retrieved from its area.
Bobby Orillaneda, archeologist from the National Museum Underwater Archeology Division, said after his initial examination on the artifacts being kept at the residence of Mayor Antonio Del Rosario of Roxas City, they were not as old as 250-year-old galleons.
"Masyadong bata yung mga nakita kong objects na allegedly nakuha doon sa ilalim ng tubig (The recovered objects were not as old)," Orillaneda said during the site and surface inspection Thursday morning.
He added, "But it is still premature to conclude kasi marami pang basis na isa-ilalim ang mga makukuha doon sa ilalim bago tayo maka-conclude (But it's too early to conclude because there are some bases that need to considered)."
The team is scheduled to dive at around 8 a.m. Friday to conduct an ocular inspection and gather pieces of evidence.
The team is composed of Orillaneda; Eduardo Sarmiento from the National Museum Cultural Properties Division; Scott Souther, an Australian master diver and member of Australian Foundation; Nathaniel Floro of Far Sea Land Research Foundation; Felino Neri, a Filipino dive master; and Eliza Antonino, a diver and staff of Senator Mar Roxas who serve as the coordinator and guide for the divers.
They arrived here 7 a.m. Thursday. They conducted their investigation along with del Rosario at the Barangay Punta Barra shore where the wreckage is located.
Orillaneda promised that after their dive, he will reveal their additional findings.
He added that based on historical records, Roxas Cty was not mentioned among the places in the country where galleons would pass by.
Up to the present, only one galleon wreckage was discovered and that was in the early of 1990's, according to Orillaneda.
This was the San Diego Galleon, which belonged to the Spaniards and was found in Nasugbu shore in Batangas.
The National Museum was able to recover more than 31,000 artifacts.
Sarmiento, on the other hand, warned local folks not to make any attempt in salvaging the debris from the wreckage. He said Presidential Decree 374 prohibits the collection of objects from said wreckage under the Cultural Properties Preservation and Protection Act.
(June 2, 2006 issue)
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