Fish Makers As Peace Makers – The Abra Fish Cage Livelihood Project
This effort
of establishing a fish source was the initiative of the 81st
Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army. The idea came about during the
soldiers’ “Serbisyo Caravan” (Service Caravan) last 24 November 2020. After
that, the soldiers coordinated with the Bureau of Fisheries & Aquatic
Resources (BFAR) Provincial Fisheries Office in Abra to identify what fisheries
intervention was feasible in the Pagada River.
Four months
after the Service Caravan, BFAR, the local government unit of Pilar, in
partnership with the Community Support Program of the Charlie Company, 81st
Infantry Battalion, 7th Infantry Division, Philippine Army, through Commanding
Officer 1LT Arthur Rey B Aranggo, executed
the stocking of tilapia fingerlings in the river (above images).
Rodelio D Diaz, speaking
for the Nagcanasan fishers, said the eagerness to put up a fish cage started
last year, as their fish supply still came from the town of Bangued in Abra, a
2-hour drive with a jeepney fare of P400.
I say, you produce your own and save much on costs.
Mr Diaz was
happy:
We are very thankful that even in the remotest
area in Pilar, our barangay… Nagcanasan, we are still able to receive
livelihood assistance from the government.
In Barangay Ucop, Juanito
D Dela Cruz Jr said, “We
will religiously do the record keeping to show the feasibility of producing
fish in our area because we wanted to produce food for our (families)."
Record keeping – This is quite welcome and a revelation! I have been writing on
Filipino farmers for 13 years, and this
is the first time a farmer talks about record keeping. In short, he wants
to know where the money goes and how much comes out with his efforts. A good
business sense that most farmers lack.
The tilapia fingerlings were sourced from San Ramon East, Manabo, Abra through Lym Pait, a fisher beneficiary of the research
cum extension project funded by the Bureau of Agricultural Research and
implemented by the National Fisheries & Development Institute, National
Freshwater Fisheries Technology Center of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic
Resources (BFAR), and BFAR Cordillera Administrative Region.
BFAR
Regional Director Lilibeth L Signey said
each of the units includes 4 modules (cages) stocked with 6,000 tilapia
fingerlings. The assistance comes with bags of fish feeds good for 3-4 months.
Ms Lilibeth said, “A yield of
almost 2 metric tons is projected after 4 months.”
This End Local Communist Armed Conflict (ELCAC)
initiative is based on PRRD’s Executive Order 70 series 2018 institutionalizing
the “Whole-of-Nation” Approach to end local insurgency as a necessary step to
gain sustainable and inclusive peace. This is ELCAC Fish for Peace!@517
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