The governor said that sealing the memorandum of agreement will just remain a covenant unless all parties involved will get their acts together in the efforts to help protect the Visayan Marine Triangle by strictly implementing the fisheries code and non-commercial fishing within the 15-kilometer municipal waters.
This came as an answer to a question raised by a pack of rallying marginal fishermen, who asked on when would there be concrete solutions to their problem, during the forging of the said MOA.
"Ingon ko, isip inahan niining inyong lalawigan, usa lamang akong gihangyo - ang inyong sinseridad kay nagkinahanglan kini og matinud-anon nga pagpaningkamot og hiniusang kalihokan," she reportedly told them.
Most of the fishermen, nevertheless, were thankful that the provincial government was able to bring all together the "protagonists" of the pending move to close the Visayan sea from commercial and other forms of prohibited fishing activities as a result of a study, which says that the area is over-fished.
The MOA was forged during the culmination of the environment law training for lawyers at the Bantayan Sea Camp in Sta. Fe town, Bantayan Island and the unveiling last May 20 of a temporary marker in a marine sanctuary off barangay Ocoy in honor of slain Cebu City Bantay Dagat Commission program director Elpidio "Jojo" de la Victoria.
Signatories of the said MOA are the provincial government, local governments of Daanbantayan, San Remigio, Medellin, Bantayan, Sta. Fe and Madridejos; Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, Visayan Sea Squadron, Young Lawyers Association of Cebu, the Coastal Conservation and Education Foundation, Northern Cebu Fish Operators Association, the Cebu Ringnet Operators Association and the UP Coastal Marine Survey, Philippine Navy, Coast Guard and the Maritime Police. - Cristina C. Birondo