BACNOTAN, La Union—The Philippine Coast Guard here faces a blank wall on a dredging machine pipe which was apparently swept by strong waves that ended up in Barangay Baroro Saturday afternoon.
Milky Ocampo, a resident of the town, said that he saw it floating in the sea waters at about two to three in the afternoon, “Maybe it was slowly swept here on the shore.”
Residents described the pipe as 400 meters in length and bigger than an average man and was supposedly used as a dredging machine, compared to that being used by the Chinese, who are in a stand-off with the Philippine government over several island territories in the West Philippine Sea.
Eng. Simeon M. Dela Rosa, operations officer/PIO of the Coast Guard, however, did not confirm if the said item came from an island where they have occupied which they were reported to have built several structures.
“There is still no confirmation if where that big pipe came from and why it was here,” Dela Rosa added.
Residents of Baroro gathered around the strange pipe; some even climbed on it, even as others hesitated to touch it for fear of contracting a virus.
Ocampo said, “I am also worried because we do not know what is the component of that thing, it also looks strange to us, why is that there is a foreign looking words written on it, we don’t understand what was exactly written there.”
Several personnel of the Coast Guard were detailed for the meantime, to safeguard the pipe for the safety and welfare of the residents while they were discussing what to do with it.
“€So far, there is no evidence yet that the pipe is hazardous to health of Bacnotan residents. There is no trace of oil, either,” Dela Rosa added.