DA-BFAR awards fishing boats to fisherfolk beneficiaries

MANILA, Philippines - In less than three months since it was launched, the Ahon! Rehabilitation Initiative has surpassed its target of 10,000 units of fishing boats for the Yolanda-affected fisherfolk, the Department of Agriculture’s Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (DA-BFAR) said.  

In a culminating ceremony in Tacloban City, BFAR national director Asis Perez announced the start of phase 2 of Ahon! which raises the initial goal of 10,000 boats to 20,000 units, for a  total of 30, 000 units of both repaired and newly built fishing boats by the end of the initiative.

Perez was joined by Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala and former Akbayan partylist representative Risa Hontiveros-Baraquel in one of the highlights of the ceremony wherein more than 500 units of newly repaired Ahon! fishing boats were paraded by fisherfolk beneficiaries from the municipalities of Sta. Rita, Basey, Palo, Tanauan, Tolosa and Tacloban.

“We have already brought down 10,500 worth of boat materials to the affected fisherfolk in MIMAROPA, western, central and eastern Visayas.

This, however, comprises only 1/3 of the total number of fishing boats destroyed and damaged by the typhoon and still leaves thousands of fisherfolk without fishing boats,” Perez said. 

BFAR is optimistic that  it would be able to cover its target through the partnership it has formed with other government agencies, private corporations and individuals who have contributed to program’s successful turnout. 

Perez stressed that the greater contribution nevertheless came from the side of the fisherfolk whose counterpart were the salvaged hull of their damaged banca, rudder or propeller and labor.

Donor-representatives from the private sector also flew in to Tacloban City to witness the turnover of the boats and to meet their beneficiaries.