HEADLINE: FISHKILL LOSES REACHES P115M
MANILA, JUNE 4, 2011 (PHILSTAR)
FIRST PERSON By Alex Magno - The BFAR should stop dishing out this nonsense
about the fish dying in our lakes as a seasonal phenomenon. If that were true,
we would have a word for such an event in any of our colorful dialects.
The "fishkill" now wreaking havoc on our food supply and the livelihood of
our fishing communities is an entirely manmade calamity. It is the outcome of
our corrupted politics, absent policies and weak administration of the commons.
One newspaper, obviously tongue-in-cheek, reported that the thousands of tons
of fish found floating in our lakes and along our coasts drowned. That is
technically correct. The fish did die of asphyxiation.
If the fish died because there was not enough oxygen in the water, then that
is a serious danger signal. The water we rely on for our supply of fish is
seriously degraded. Our lakes, on which we rely for increasingly scarce potable
water could be dying faster than we care to admit.
The culprit here is not some natural cycle but the abuse committed by
lake-grabbers — those who fenced off large areas, overstock the pens, impede
water flow and overuse fish feed that eventually settle, and rot, at the bottom.
Look at the satellite photos of all our lakes and much of our coastal areas —
and weep. Laguna de Bay, Taal lake, Lanao lake and even the famous Sampaloc lake
in San Pablo are all nearly entirely fenced off, expropriated by private fishpen
operators. Large parts of the coastal areas off Cavite, Bataan and Pangasinan
have likewise been expropriated by powerful interests.
We are the only country that allows lakes to be, in effect, privately owned.
The fishpen operators disenfranchise small fishermen, reducing them to security
guards for the magnates. These fishpens collect silt, prevent the proper
transfusion of water and trap trash. For maximum profit, the pens are
overstocked and large quantities of fish feed dumped into them.
Under that arrangement, the calamity we are now experiencing was forthcoming.
The authorities now say they will be going after the "illegal" fishpen
operators. Which are legal and which are illegal? There is no law that allows
our waters to be privately owned. The fishpens proliferated only because local
executives and bureaucrats make illicit money from looking the other way.
When he was DENR secretary, Lito Atienza went after the fishpens with a
passion even as powerful interests moved to block him from doing so. He enjoyed
full support from then President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and a few local
executives, most notably then Gov. Ayong Malicsi of Cavite. The fishpens along
the Cavite shoreline were cleared — although they have since returned.
Atienza likewise imposed a running fine of P100,000 per day on the two water
concession companies for failing to install water treatment facilities to keep
sewage from being dumped raw into the rivers and the bay. The concession
contracts require the water companies to treat sewage and return pure water to
the waterways. They have not done that even as they charge consumers a sewage
fee.
DENR Secretary Ramon Paje, now that he is more or less secure in his post,
should take up the cudgels. The lakes, in particular, ought to be liberated from
pens and returned to the commons. Or else our food supply will be under more
severe threat.
Manual polls
The badly-conceived move to have elections for the ARMM postponed has taken
its toll on the Comelec's preparations for the polls. The timeline is now too
short for us to be fully confident of the poll's integrity.
As things now stand, the proposal to postpone the regional elections and have
the officials of the autonomous government appointed by the Palace is dead in
the water. The Senate committee considering the proposal rejected it. Committee
chair Ferdinand Marcos Jr., in an act of magnanimity, added his vote to the five
senators required to have the matter taken up in plenary. The final outcome is
more or less conceded.
Notwithstanding, it is too late now for the Comelec to sign a new deal with
Smartmatic to use the PCOS machines for elections next August. The polls, likely
to push through, will be completely manual. What any irony, considering the ARMM
was the region where automation was first employed.
The return to what one election commissioner described as a "medieval"
process is the first casualty of the Palace-instigated effort to postpone the
polls. The prospect, however, might please newly appointed commissioner Gus
Lagman. He opposed full automation of the polls and advocated for an "open"
system where the ballots are tallied by hand and only the canvass results
transmitted electronically.
Most electoral reform advocates criticize this "open" and largely manual
system to be as vulnerable as the old system. Manual counting will not check
fake ballots nor any of the other tactics of retail cheating. The electronic
transmission of the results of the manual count will only help conceal
dagdag-bawas.
The ARMM, we know, has been most vulnerable to retail fraud: fake ballots,
flying voters, ballot box grabbing, voter intimidation and doctoring of the
canvass sheets. The return of the manual system will not check these. The
"reform" of electoral politics at the ARMM has been delayed rather than enhanced
by the ill-advised attempt to postpone regional elections.
By and large, the automated system deployed in the 2010 elections has been
credible. The contrived controversy about the source codes raised by Lagman's
group was slapped down by no less than the Supreme Court.
Yet, without trying too hard, the opponents of modernization in our electoral
system scored a victory in the forthcoming manual elections in the ARMM.
TODAY'S STAR HEADLINE
Fishkill losses reach P115 M By Alexis Romero
(The Philippine Star) Updated June 04, 2011 12:00 AMComments (0)
MANILA, Philippines - More than P115 million worth of fish were lost in
fishkill in Batangas and Pangasinan, the government said yesterday.
Benito Ramos, National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC)
executive director, said the losses in Batangas totaled P74.826 million, and
P40.71 million in Pangasinan.
In Batangas, the fishkill affected 164 fish cages in four barangays: Sampaloc
in Talisay, Leviste in Laurel, Poblacion in San Nicolas, and Subic Ilaya in
Agoncillo.
In Pangasinan, the fishkill affected 108 fish cages and 39 operators.
These fish cages are based in six barangays, namely Culang and Catubig in
Bolinao, and Mal-ong, Awag, Siapar and Narra in Anda.
Ramos said local governments have assured the public that only fish from
areas unaffected by the fishkill would be sold in markets. Agricultural offices
and local governments in Pangasinan are monitoring and clearing operations of
fish cages, he added.
The local government of Anda, Pangasinan is planning to declare the entire
municipality under a state of calamity to provide the necessary assistance to
affected families, Ramos said.
At present, seven towns in Batangas have been placed under a state of
calamity due to huge losses from the fishkill.
These are Talisay, Agoncillo, Laurel, San Nicolas, Cuenca, Alitagtag, and
Santa Teresita.
In Anda, barangays Awag, Siapar and Mal-ong have been placed under a state of
calamity.
The fishkill in Batangas has been attributed to heavy rains last May 23,
which resulted in the coloration of the Palsara River and nearby lakeshore in
Balete town.
The presence of pollutants also aggravated the situation, NDRRMC said.
The massive fishkill in Pangasinan started last May 29 in Anda and Bolinao,
the major producers of milkfish in the province.
It was caused by the abrupt change of water parameters as a result of the
heavy downpour brought by typhoon "Chedeng."
Robredo: Dispose of dead fish
Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo ordered yesterday
police officials in Batangas to ensure that owners of illegal fish cages dispose
of dead fish properly.
"My directive was for the Batangas police to ask illegal fish pen owners to
voluntarily dismantle their illegal fish cages until they have disposed of their
dead fish," he said.
Most of the illegal fish pens were installed in the shorelines of Talisay and
Laurel towns inside Taal lake, he added.
Robredo said he has ordered Batangas police director Senior Superintendent
Rosauro Acio to give illegal fish pen owners a chance to voluntarily dismantle
the cages until all the dead fish had been retrieved and disposed of properly.
After a week, if the illegal fish pen owners would still refuse to dismantle
the cages, police and local officials would dismantle them, he added.
BFAR: No dead fish sold in markets of Metro Manila
"Double dead" fish are not being sold in the markets of Metro Manila, the
Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) said yesterday.
Speaking in Zamboanga City, Asis Perez, BFAR national director, said most
likely fish being sold in the market were bilasa (putrescent fish), not botcha
or "double-dead."
Perez said the public must not fear buying fish in the market because of the
fishkill in Pangasinan.
Perez also dismissed reports that fishkill products were being used to make
fish balls. Fish balls are made of flour and fish sauce for flavoring only, and
no fish meat is included in the ingredients, he added.
DENR: Don't feed dead fish to crocodiles, other wildlife
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources is not in favor of the
plan to feed dead milkfish to crocodiles and other wildlife.
Theresa Mundita Lim, Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau director, said
crocodiles and other wildlife might suffer thiamine deficiency if fed dead fish.
"We caution against disposing (of dead fish) that way," she said. "Not to
feed the botcha fish to animals."
The first sign of the deficiency in animals like crocodiles is body twisting
and convulsion, Lim said.
Bangus price stabilizes
Five days after the fishkill in Anda and Bolinao towns in Pangasinan, the
price of bangus (milkfish) stabilized yesterday.
Emma Molina, city agriculturist, told The STAR no more bangus from fishkill
areas have been brought for trading at the Magsaysay Fish Market, the center of
fish trading in Pangasinan.
"It's as if nothing happened," she said. "No more bangus scare, hopefully."
From a bargain price of as low as P10 per kilo at the height of the fishkill,
the wholesale price of bangus per kilo was back to P95 yesterday.
However, Molina said no fishkill occurred in Dagupan City, contrary to what
some people thought.
Traders labeled their bangus as coming from Dagupan, although it came from
other areas in Pangasinan, she added.
Good quality bangus from western Pangasinan, including parts of Anda and
Bolinao unaffected by the fishkill, started to arrive in Dagupan yesterday.
They were allowed to be traded after being certified safe based on the
auxiliary invoices issued from their source and counter checked by the City
Agriculturist Office.
The bangus industry will bounce back, similar to what happened in previous
fishkill in Pangasinan, Dr. Westly Rosario, BFAR chief in Dagupan, told The STAR
yesterday.
Councilor: Ban sale of dead fish
Councilor Jesus Canto seeks to ban the sale of bangus from fishkill areas and
the trading of "double dead" chicken and pork in Dagupan.
The City Council held its initial public hearing on Canto's proposed
ordinance last Thursday.
Canto, a physician, said he was prompted to file this ordinance after
unscrupulous traders tried to pass on stale bangus to the public as being of
good quality.
In their inspection of markets with acting Mayor Belen Fernandez last
Wednesday, they found out that some vendors put red dye on the gills of decaying
bangus to make it appear as fresh.
Others removed the eyes of deboned bangus because those from fishkill areas
have red and sunken eyes.
Authorities seized the decaying fish.
Canto said the fine ranges from P3,000, P5,000, and P10,000, penalty
equivalent to community service for the first, second and third offense.
ABS-CBN Dagupan reported yesterday that two persons, a man and a woman, were
confined at the Western Pangasinan District Hospital in Alaminos City, for food
poisoning after they had eaten bangus from fishkill-affected towns of Anda and
Bolinao.
Ilocos Sur unaffected, except Caoayan town
Ilocos Sur remains unaffected by fishkill, BFAR said yesterday.
Benny Saraos, BFAR-Ilocos Sur officer, said their monitoring of the coastal
towns showed no significant occurrences of fishkill, unlike in nearby Pangasinan
and Batangas.
However, Caoayan town Mayor Germelina Singson-Goulart said yesterday fishkill
has affected her town.
The municipal government is exhausting all efforts to contain the disaster,
including the cleaning up of the affected fish cages, she added.
Goulart said fishermen have put up fish cages along the Mestizo River from
where they have been raising mainly tilapia that have found their way to the
Vigan public market.
Town officials are making sure that the fishkill would not spread to fish
raisers in the neighboring barangays.
Goulart has ordered the digging of large pits to dispose of the dead fish. —With
Cecille Suerte Felipe, Roel Pareño, Eva Visperas, Teddy Molina, Artemio Dumlao
Chief News Editor:
Sol Jose Vanzi
© Copyright, 2011
by PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE
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