Siquijor Best Posts in Thread: Yamashita's Treasure

You did the right thing. You made your concerns clear to the person involved. Anything beyond that would get you labeled as a trouble maker. The work would have gone on even if you had complained AND the guys would still be dead AND somehow it would be the foreigners fault. Again, you did the right thing, IMHO, and thanks for sharing.

 

That's a sad story. I don't think there was anything you could have done.
Hard headed people will not listen.
If the families of these victims (best word I can come up with) make life impossible for Mr. Bigwig and he has to flee the island, that would be great.
Jerk :(

 

Every once in a while I get fed up with life in the Phils. Yesterday was such a day. Just down the road from us at the beach a local big wig has had the bright idea to dig for treasure. I hear that he has no permit. I know he has no mining qualifications or any geology credentials. None the less this fool starts to dig a hole 15metres deep at about 1m above sea level less than 7m from the waters edge.

Locals are convinced he is looking for Yamashita's gold. You can imagine the scene 75 years ago:

Yamshita: I have great idea Highness. Now the war is lost, let's bury some gold in someone's back yard. No one will know. We'll hide it on Siquijor. The locals are dumb. No-one will notice.

Emperor: Great idea Yams me old fruit. No one could possibly notice umpteen tons of gold being dropped into a dirty great hole on a beach could they? Even if they did they would forget about it pretty d*mn quick. It will be safe for oooooohhhh, at least 75 years. Make it so.

So 73 years later I start talking to this big wig. Had he thought about subsidence? How was he going to stop the pit from flooding with the tides let alone the run off water from the hills? What safety precautions was he taking for his workers? Btw I told him that at the bottom of every mine the world over is a Cornishman. Mining is in our blood. He waved me away arrogantly telling me he knew what he was doing and this was none of my business.

So yesterday the asawa rings me in tears. The pit collapsed in on itself at high tide burying 3 men. Patay. As they say around here. Took hours to dig them out and far too late. A father and son, another man from the other side of the island. All 3 no doubt desperate for a wage and no doubt suckers for this myth.

Would these guys still be alive today if I had complained to the baranguay officials or the government? I probably would have been labelled as a foreigner trouble maker - and no 2 year mining operation goes without a blind eye being turned I'm sure. So I kept quiet. I wish I hadn't.

 

Just an update. Yesterday the house near the mining project was searched by Police. I hear the project manager and his business associate fled the island the moment they heard of the accident. Q'uell surprise ce nes pas?

 

Greed leads to many Things, "STUPIDITY" Being top of the list in this Instance

 

No worries, I knew that. Just be careful which 'leg' you are pulling. It could have your eye out.

Further news....they have arrested one of the associates in Siaton. Expect more to tumble over the next few days.

C

 

and the stupidity gets worse and worse. The jungle telegraph/tsimis rumour jugernaut just grows and grows. Amongst the latest rumours flying around the baranguay is that the deceased had found a chest gold just before the cave-in (one imagines it was a bit like the ones you see in Pirate movies, made of old wood and embossed with brass studs. When you open it dubloons, jewels and gold jewellry are piled high...a spider runs acoss the surface etc).

Legend has it that chests like this are booby trapped with either explosive or poison gas. The locals favour the poison gas theory. It explains to them why the site smells so "bahoo" (bad). Locals theorise that the gas was released just before the cave in. Relatives of the deceased are saying things to the effect of: one of the deceased had a premonition not to work that day/one of the workers had a dream that in two days they would hit the paydirt/one of the workers saw a Japanese soldier ghost the night before the cave-in etc etc etc.

The rational side of things has gone flying out of the island. Siquijor is full of caves - air is bound to become musty, 'bahoo' if there is inadequate ventilation (it's why my forefathers carried canaries whilst mining natch). Their theories do not explain the sudden cave in - easy; at high tide the amount of water pressure above the pit dislodged the rocks at the pit walls causing the catastrophe. It's within an earthquake zone...minor barely detectable tremours could have combined with the water pressure. Let alone that a badly dug pit by a bunch of amateurs is a death trap anyway! Jesus.

Well, I am back next week for a month or two. It should provide for minor diversion. I pity the victims. The mine owner and his business accomplices have long fled now and the police have made no arrests. :(

PS the bloke who painted the family jewels purple in 2007 is a local nut job. No self respecting Celt would desecrate such a fine piece of iron age art work. I am innocent!

 

And now to wrap this sorry tale up. The wife phones me this morning telling me that both the local bigwig and his accomplice have been seen riding their motos on the island. The Police have released them and there will be no charges. The upshot is the deceased were "business partners" who were to have shares in this 'treasure'...therefore they knew the risks etc. As they were not being paid a salary for mining there is no comeback. "Close shave" is the word up and down the baranguay - and the coast is now clear for them to return.

C

 

Nope. I am not Bob. Nor am I Sparticus Just Cernunos (look me up!), Cerne will do for short.