NUEVA VALENCIA, Guimaras—Fifty-year-old Amando Cornel was a fisherman most of his life; now, he hardly goes out to fish. He goes to a 15-hectare farm in Nueva Valencia town in Guimaras to learn how to grow fruit trees and organic vegetables.
“It took more than two years to adjust from fishing to farming, but our income here is more stable,” he said in Hiligaynon.
Cornel was among the thousands of Guimaras fishers who were dislocated during a massive oil spill that ravaged the island-province on Aug. 11, 2006.
Considered the worst marine disaster in the Philippines, the oil spill was triggered by the sinking of the MT Solar 1, a tanker chartered by Petron Corp., during a storm while transporting more than 2.1 million liters of bunker fuel from Bataan to Zamboanga City.
The accident forced some 26,000 people, mostly fishermen and their families, to leave their houses and deprived them of fishing and shell-gathering as livelihood for months. It also devastated Guimaras’ rich marine resources, affecting mangroves, seaweeds and other aquatic life.
Cornel, whose house on the shoreline was near the accident site, said he was earning P300 daily from fishing before the oil spill. Although the industry has recovered in Guimaras, he said it was no longer the same.
Cooperative
He now relies on a cooperative of displaced residents from his village for his livelihood.
The Halad Sa Kauswagan Sang Guimaras Multi-Purpose Cooperative (Halad MPC) was formed in 2007 with 156 members with the help of the Lopez Group Foundation Inc. (LGFI).
The foundation launched Sagip Sa Guimaras Project, a relief program for the oil spill victims, a year before. It saw the need for a long-term alternative livelihood for them, said Dario Pagcaliwagan, LGFI project director.
In partnership with the Philippines-Australia Community Assistance Program (Pacap) of the Australian Agency for International Development and the Iloilo Caucus of Development Non-Government Organizations, the LGFI conducted training on farming and cooperative orientation and management.
Donated property
In a simple ceremony on Nov. 28 last year, the LGFI led by its chair, Oscar M. Lopez, turned over two certificates of land ownership award to the cooperative, covering 15 hectares of land in Barangay Lapaz, Nueva Valencia, which the Lopez family donated from its ancestral properties.
The LGFI and the Pacap also put up a two-story building for the cooperative.
“It is a sincere demonstration by my family who has roots in Buenavista in Guimaras of our desire to help in the development and growth of the communities in Guimaras, especially those who are disadvantaged and wanting to improve their lives,” Lopez said.
The project established organic vegetable plots and fruit orchards for the cooperative. It has augmented the earnings of members by selling vegetables in excess of their families’ needs, according to Jorge Vicente Gavan, 50, the cooperative’s manager.
Seventy percent of the income is divided among the members and the remaining 30 percent goes to the cooperative.
Income alternative
Gov. Felipe Nava said the project “has given the residents the opportunity to seek an alternative livelihood after the disaster.”
Sandra Remolla, cooperative president, acknowledged that it was difficult to shift from fishing to farming. “We had no experience, especially in organic farming, and it required more time and attention compared to fishing and shell gathering,” she said.
Some of the members still fish, she said, but they earn extra from farming. She added that farming was more stable because fish catch was not always good.
“It was difficult, but we somehow managed,” Remolla said.