THE local government of Cordova has urged the public not to believe and get swayed by fake news circulating online that there will be a lockdown in the seawaters off Cordova town.“Ayaw kamo padala sa fake news,” the caption of the local government on a social media post read. A screenshot of the false announcement was attached to the post.As stated on the screenshot, a netizen reportedly urged the public to swim in the seawaters off Cordova before August 29, 2022.“Sa wala pa makaligo og dagat paghuman sa pesta, pangaligo namo kay ang dagat sa Cordova e-lockdown (‘close’) sogod karon August 29. Maong pangaligo na mo pagtagbaw kay malameng tas dagat ani,” the netizen said.(To those who were not able to swim after the fiesta, you’d better swim now because there will be a lockdown in the seawaters off Cordova starting August 29.)The netizen added that she will drop the prices of his/her commercial cottage from the regular price, which is P300 to P1,000, to P200 to P700.During the stakeholders meeting at Cordova Sports Complex last Wednesday, August 17, Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia had given the floating and fixed cottage owners in Cordova only until August 28 to operate.She said rehabilitation of the seawaters off Cordova will start on August 29.The decision was made after it was found that the fecal coliform level in the area had exceeded the allowable level due to the unregulated establishment of cottages that have no proper restrooms on and along the coast.Garcia, however, did not say that all the seawaters off Cordova town would not be available for swimming starting August 29.The governor only asked the Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Environmental Management Bureau (DENR-EMB) Central Visayas and the Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office (Penro) to declare the entire zone, where the floating and fixed cottages are currently established, as an area where there should be no activity.Cordova Mayor Cesar Suan said they will ask the DENR-EMB to check the other parts of the seawaters of the town to determine where they could allow beach activities, particularly swimming.“But those area nga atoa nang na check gyud, na inspect nga duna nay presence of coliform nga grabe na gyud kaayo, dili na nato i-risgo ang atoang kaugalingon,” Suan said, adding that they will also put up posters in prohibited areas. (But in those areas we’ve inspected where the presence of coliform has been detected at high levels, we should not take the risk of going there anymore.)Suan said they will no longer allow the construction of cottages and tables even on the island, so the area can be used by the public for free.Executive orderGovernor Garcia is set to issue an executive order on what they had agreed on during the stakeholders forum.She said the executive order will be supported by the Cebu Provincial Board through an ordinance to strengthen its implementation.The stakeholders of floating and fixed cottages have expressed disappointment over the short period of time they had been allowed to continue operating before the temporary closure of their cottages, saying the number of days given by the governor for them to operate was not enough.Mabel Daro, who serves as president of the fixed cottages owners association in Barangays Catarman and Poblacion, told SunStar Cebu on Thursday, August 18, 2022, that they had been having a hard time due to the directive concerning the boat operations.This, as Garcia, also on Wednesday, August 17, said only those bangka or pump boats licensed or accredited with the Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) would be permitted to ferry passengers to and from the floating and fixed cottages within the coastal waters of the town starting August 18.Daro said there are about 300 commercial fixed cottages in the town, which are operated by about 80 owners. Apart from that, there are also about 103 floating cottages operated by at least 89 owners.Livelihood assistanceDaro said they had asked for livelihood assistance from the local government unit (LGU) now that their operations will be temporarily halted, but none has been given.Suan, who aims to make the floating and fixed cottages “world class,” had yet to answer SunStar Cebu’s queries on the assistance the LGU could give the affected stakeholders.There are less than 500 pump boat operators who ferry customers of the cottages in the town, said pump boat owner Melchur Angco, who stressed that most of them, including him, have no license to operate.Angco, a father of six students, said they would be happy if Garcia would allow them to operate despite having no license, as they have no other means of living.Angco said he could not avail himself of the one-stop shop services for the pump boat owners on Friday, August 19, at the Cordova Sports Complex, where they could be evaluated and given permits by the Marina, Mayor Suan and the Department of Tourism.He said he did not have enough money to get a license to operate, adding that his pump boat could cater to only six passengers and that this could not ferry passengers for other activities like island hopping.Angco said he could do fishing as an alternative means of living, but he has no money to buy equipment or materials for it.Coliform levelOfficials of the DENR-Central Visayas said a water quality check in Cordova’s coastal waters on August 10 revealed that the fecal coliform level (FCL) along areas where fixed and floating cottages were present had reached 2,400 most probable number (mpn) per 100 milliliters.The standard FCL for coastal waters to consider them safe for swimming and other similar recreational activities is 100 mpn per 100 milliliters, according to the DENR.Garcia said that aside from the fixed and floating cottages in the town, the temporary public market in Barangay Catarman was among the three contributors to the high FCL found along Cordova’s coast.Suan is set to transfer its vendors to a brand-new market facility at least six months from now.To prevent further contamination of the town’s coast, Suan said they will implement proper solid and liquid waste management at the temporary public market and in Barangays Catarman and Poblacion.