Setting free and leaving be

I once asked a friend and diver for over a decade, why he loved being underwater when he couldn't talk to anyone. He said, "Because you get to swim amid many beautiful sea creatures and set your eyes on fascinating corals that most people only see on Discovery (Channel) or National Geographic."

Aquatic beings might not feel the same way towards us humans, though, specially when we start poking around and invading their homes, or scooping them into nets. But, with more than 50 % of municipalities and cities in the Philippines situated in coastal zones, it is understandable that the seas provide the Filipinos' main source of protein. Combine this with the pounding of corals, the clearing of mangroves, the use of destructive fishing methods and the throwing of trash into the seas, and expectedly, the supply of fish dwindled, creating a serious threat to the country's food security.

Were the enactment of laws enough, blast fishing which wipes out nautical miles of well-preserved coral reefs, would've instantly ceased. Alas, the best laws of the land do not alone sanctuaries make. Republic Act 8550 may proclaim the development, management and conservation of fisheries and aquatic resources, but it would need massive assistance from all sectors, if this law must gain some headway.

Such is the developing success story in a town in northern Cebu about 109 kilometers away from Cebu City. San Remigio has 300 households, and its folks rely heavily on farming and fishing. To nurture fish production for its needs, the town set up marine sanctuaries; to date, San Remigio has eight, for which it achieved in 2002 the "Gawad Kagalingan Award" for Cebu Province. Supported by the local government under Mayor Mariano Martinez and the World Bank with a P 15 Million assistance, the agreement was for 30 % to be used for livelihood programs for the townsfolk, and 70 % for rehabilitating the seas.

Jumpstarting livelihood activities, however, needed water supply. However, until recently, this was a problem. Since the water source was located several barangays away, the people had to gather gallons of water by foot. An initiative to establish a Level 2 water system was conceived and is now on its way of implementation. This will be tapped to the nearby water cooperative known as PAWASCO or Pangi Water System Cooperative. An alternative livelihood program is also given to qualified members of the association. Qualified members of the association are given access for a swine dispersal project in the form of a soft loan by Antonio R. Moraza with the technical assistance of Farmers Edge (formerly PMI, the brand name of feed product) and Aboitiz Group Foundation Inc.,(AGFI). The swine caretaker only has to provide a pig pen and steady supply of water for cleaning the pen.

Helpless need not be hapless, and so marine sanctuaries come to be. To create this sanctuary, a fraction of the sea is sealed off from public use to guarantee undisturbed coral reefs and to encourage fishes and their fingerlings, and other aquatic animals to reside and multiply within the instituted zone. This section should be big enough to encourage coral reefs to grow in full array and variety…. a sea fan here, an organ-pipe there, a stony nearby, a staghorn somewhere, a brain coral elsewhere. Among these various fishes could reside in all peacefulness. Here they shall multiply by the thousands, and in time, grow strong and confident enough to venture out of the sanctuary and into the vast beyond.

In Bancasan, the marine sanctuary has been successful as well. It is now home to such species of fish as banak, danggit, kitong, pusod, tugnos, molmol, uhawon and bantahan. Spawning season allows the big fish to multiply at least twice a year, while the small fish four times a year. Though there are buoys to mark the ten-hectare limitation, these are meant more to wall out poachers and illegal fishers, than to wall in the fish. Bancasan barangay captain George Luna says the fishes have no reason for straying far from the sanctuary. They return after swimming around because they're safe and undisturbed in the sanctuary.

How so? Vigilance, private sector involvement, and people's commitment. Indeed, for the Aboitiz Group of Companies, environmental protection and conservation is among the four major components of its corporate social responsibility programs. Thus, they maintain a sea turtle sanctuary in Davao City and marine sanctuaries in Cebu. Also, the companies have ongoing, decades-old reforestation programs in selected areas of the country.

People's Organization president Vicente Tautjo says 24 community volunteers or fish wardens called the "Guardians," stand watch over the marine sanctuary 24 hours, 7 days a week from illegal fishers and poachers. The "Guardians" patrol the aquatic zone on shifting schedules, any slight alarm sends them zooming away in their pump boats to ward off the intruders. Violators are immediately arrested and hauled to court. To help sustain the Guardians' voluntarism, Antonio Moraza, President and CEO of Pilmico and Filam Foods, attends to their monthly food and gasoline provisions.

Logistic support via pump boats, buoys and other donations came from the local government of San Remigio, a government agency (the Department of Agriculture's Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources), the German government through the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ), a corporate foundation (AGFI), and corporate executives concerned about the environment (Aboitiz companies' Antonio Moraza, Stephen Paradies and Erramon Aboitiz).

San Remigio is among the twenty-two municipality beneficiaries of the Visayan Sea project designed to address the issues of depleted resources, habitat degradation, and unsustainable resource use pattern and resource conflict in the Visayan Sea.

To avoid disruption of the sanctuary from outsiders, usually from neighboring Bantayan Island, Tautjo says their organization issues permits to fish near the sanctuary. Priority is given, however, to townsfolk, while fishermen from other towns get second priority.

Benjie Perial, a construction worker residing in Bancasan, admits that at the start, the setting up of buoys for the marine sanctuary met some grumblings and concerns from some townsfolk. But soon enough, these concerns died down when the people observed greater catch outside the sanctuary. Perial says customers could buy fish of varying kinds directly from the fishermen at P 30 - P 40 per kilo. Also, fishermen have been able to catch "lapu-lapu" fish now, unlike pre-sanctuary times.

An earnest and appreciative Tautjo smiles, "Dili gyud maluwas among problema sa pagpanagat kung walay pahinabang ang AGFI ug ni Mr. Moraza namo ug sa among lugar" (We wouldn't have been relieved of our fishing problems if AGFI and Mr. Moraza hadn't extended assistance to our people and community). Indeed, the collective commitment of the local government, private citizens and corporate foundations have San Remigio in its coastal resource management, in enforcing environmental laws, and in strengthening the crusade against illegal fishing activities.

Humans should leave the fingerlings in the sanctity of their marine homes. If we set them free and leave them be, Nemo and friends will find their underwater truly vibrant, multihued and blissful.