SAN JOSE, Antique – Atty. Ade Fajardo, former national president of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, is pushing for the empowerment of Antique’s marginalized fisherfolks.
Fishing is as major source of livelihood in 15 coastal municipalities of Antique. But while the rich fishing grounds of the Cuyo East Pass, Sulu Sea and municipal waters make fishing a promising venture, Antique’s fisherfolks need sufficient assistance, especially posts-harvest.
“Tugroan gid sanda sang mga post-harvest assistance, very important gid. Sa iban nga mga lugar gani, very active ang assistance, ginpanginmuslan gid nanda it mayad ang anda kadagatan,” said Fajardo who has a degree in Economics from the University of the Philippines.
Fajardo said the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) is not only mandated to apprehend illegal fishers but also to implement programs such as on post-harvest, which may include provisions for cold storage and fish processing.
“For instance ang drying kang fish kara, etc…Daad may assistance man sa marketing, storage…amo ra ang mandato daad kang BFAR. Pero aton namutikan bisan diin man sa Pilipinas, indi lang rigya sa Antique, duro aton fisherfolks daw naga-concentrate lang sanda sa panakop. Ang post-harvest assistance daw nagakulang gid,” lamented Fajardo, candidate for congressman in Antique.
The question, Fajardo added, is if there are enough funds allocated by Congress for such activities of BFAR, an attached agency of the Department of Agriculture.
“Ang iban nga progressive cities like General Santos na-explore gid mayad ang fisheries sa canning, etc…Ang Antique sangka coastal nga probinsya. Kon may initiative daad kita ang amo ra nga mga program rigya, mayad gid daan nga mapundohan ri-a,” said Fajardo.
He is pushing for the creation of a government department for fisheries.
“Ang aton exclusive economic zone and municipal waters, ang area is seven or eight times kang bilog nga area kang Pilipinas so tama ka top resource…Ang Congress daad if possible magpundo sangka Department of Fisheries by law to address ang tanan nga aspeto sang pangisda,” said Fajardo.
He observed, too, that while the fish catch is huge, it’s the middlemen that benefit more rather than Antique’s fisherfolks. Steep prices, too, in the market disappoint local buyers.
Middlemen or traders buy the fish straight from the fisherfolks at a very cheap price, like P4 to P40 per kilo for Tamban fish for instance. When the fish reaches the market, however, it already costs P80 per kilo.
“Duro gid gahambal nga barato baligya sa nagabakal nga middlemen pero pag abot sa merkado mahal ron ang baligya ka isda,” said Fajardo.
These middlemen usually cite the high cost of transport for jacking up the price of fish.
“Kinanglan i-validate ri-a. Sa pagtantiya naton daw bukot gid man guro tanto ka bahul nga input ri-a sa presyo kang aton nga mga isda. Basi ginadugangan gid man ang presyo, with all due respect sa aton mga kasimanwa nga amo ri-a ang anda nga pangabuhi, ang maging middleman,” said Fajardo.
He added: “Makaluluoy gid ang aton mangingisda nga tama ka barato ang bakal kananda kang isda. Ginpangabudlayan da ra, ginapulawan da ra sa dagat nga bul-on.”/PN
