'Rough' road planted with bananas
Residents and motorists passing by the unrepaired portion of the road in Brgy. Pakyad, Oton woke up to an unusual sight Tuesday morning as bananas were planted in the middle of the road.
A total of 22 full grown bananas were planted in the middle of the uncemented road having an interval of 10-15 meters each and occupying an estimated span of about half a kilometer disrupting traffic flow in the area.
Joel Tomambo, a barangay kagawad of Brgy. Pakyad, said he came to know of the presence of bananas on the road when he went out of their house situated just beside the road early morning of Tuesday.
"We immediately informed our barangay captain then we called the police," Tomambo said.
SPO2 Pedro Embalsado of the Oton police said that a witness told them that several armed men in fatigue uniform planted the bananas between 1 and 3 in the morning of Tuesday.
Embalsado said they are still conducting investigations to ascertain the identities of the perpetrators and their motive in planting bananas in the middle of the road.
One resident who refused to be identified said it could be the handiwork of New People's Army (NPA) as their way of bringing to the attention of the government the poor road condition in the area.
Residents have long been complaining of the bad road in their area which has been neglected for a long time for unknown reasons.
The NPA, however, has yet to claim responsibility for such act.
Tomambo echoed the observation that the act could be a way, by those responsible, of expressing disgust over the neglected road.
He admitted that a lot of residents have been complaining about it and they already brought the matter to the attention of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) but it was left unattended.
Tomambo, however, could not confirm if there are members of the NPA in their barangay or in nearby areas.
Meanwhile, Senior Supt. Joel Napoleon Coronel, director of the Iloilo Provincial Police Office (IPPO) said they will check on the veracity of eyewitness accounts that several armed men in fatigue uniform were responsible for the act.
He said ordinary individuals could not just plant bananas on the road for no reason at all.
As of noontime yesterday the bananas remained in the middle of the road as residents and even barangay officials were afraid to remove it.