Valenzuela opens first fishing village

MANILA, Philippines — A fishpen community was formally inaugurated as Valenzuela’s first fishing village yesterday, offering a respite to the elderly and other enthusiasts to escape the city’s bustle. 

The city government yesterday inaugurated the P40 million development of Barangay Tagalag into the Tagalag Fishing Village, a breezy nook in the city where one can catch fish and enjoy the fresh air. The fishing village is bounded by the Polo and Coloong rivers in Valenzuela and the Meycauayan river in Bulacan. 

The 101-hectare barangay has 22 fishponds and was declared a city ecotourism zone in 2016.

Its name was derived from the old Tagalog word “alog” which refers to the shallow part of a river that can be forded, according to Valenzuela local historian Jonathan Balsamo.

Migratory birds could be seen in the distance while fisherfolk and other fishing enthusiasts lean on the fence along the fishpen or sit under the shade of huts waiting for their catch to bite the bait on their fishing rods.

Mayor Rex Gatchalian said the fishing village was the city’s “best kept secret” that he hoped to share with the rest of Metro Manila.

“There’s a whole lot more to Valenzuela than our factories and warehouses. We have parks and open spaces, too,” Gatchalian said.

The city developed the fishpen with a 1.3-kilometer boardwalk, light posts, and a fence adorned with statues of fish that can be caught there like bangus, tilapia, and hito.

Arnulfo Cruz, a fisherman in Navotas, said he hoped the Tagalag fishing village would not suffer the same fate as other fish pens in Malabon, such as the Dagat-Dagatan area where he used to catch fish as a young boy.

Dagat-Dagatan is now a residential area after it was reclaimed and converted as a resettlement area by former First Lady Imelda Marcos.

He said many fish ponds in Malabon have been converted into subdivisions.

“This hobby of ours allows us to bring home food that we can take pride of because we ourselves caught it. I can say proudly ‘this was my catch, and it’s delicious,’” Cruz said.

The development in the area drove up the prices of fish by P20 from the usual P100 per kilo of bangus and P80 per kilo of tilapia, fishing enthusiast Edwin Muli said.

The prices of fish were standardized in a public hearing with fishpond owners, said Balsamo, who also heads the Valenzuela city government’s cultural and tourism development office.