‘Gunggong’ to blame for ‘galunggong’ importation, says bishop

MANILA, Philippines—Too little “galunggong” or just too many “gunggong”?

A Catholic bishop was peeved over reports by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) that “galunggong” was now being imported, saying that the fish would not be scarce if efforts were in place to preserve its breeding grounds.

Lipa Archbishop Ramon Arguelles also surmised on Monday that the importation of “galunggong” (round scad), once considered the poor man’s fish, was being allowed despite ample supply because some people were taking profit from it.

“There is importation of galunggong because there are so many gunggong (idiots), who take advantage of our poor fishermen instead of helping them,” said Arguelles over a phone interview with reporters.

The prelate said he did not believe that the supply of fish was scarce in the country.

“I have a friend, a bishop from Vietnam, who told me that they are very grateful to the Philippines for teaching them to plant rice and now they are exporting rice to the Philippines,” he related.

“Why are we importing rice from them when they learned to plant from us? It’s because there are people making money from it … they share percentages from that,” added Arguelles. “These people who import rice and galunggong are not patriots, they are traitors.”

He also added that the supply of galunggong would continue to be enough for the country if measures were in place to protect their breeding grounds and the livelihood of small-scale fishermen were also secured.

“We should not have any problem of scarcity … if ever we don’t have enough supply, that’s because their breeding places are being destroyed,” said the archbishop.

The BFAR last week announced that galunggong was among the marine products the Philippines was already importing due to a declining fish catch. The bureau also reported that 10 of the 13 fishing grounds in the country “are heavily exploited.”

About 900,000 metric tons of imported fish enter the country annually and most of these imports are only meant for processing. But the bureau admitted that some of these imports find their way into wet markets, which may pose a threat to local producers and sellers.