📷:Niño Jesus Orbeta/Philippine Daily Inquirer
MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) on Wednesday defended the planned demolition of “illegal” fish pens and cages in Manila Bay, saying it will actually benefit small fisherfolk the most.
DENR spokesperson, Undersecretary Benny Antiporda, said that with the move, fishermen will no longer have to sail too far from the shore.
“Bilang pagpapaliwanag naman po, ang atin pong mga kababayang maliliit na fisherfolks ang unang unang makikinabang po sakaling linisin po natin ito,” Antiporda said in a televised briefing.
(As as a matter of explaining this, our small fisherfolk will actually be the first ones to benefit from this cleanup.)
“Noong itinayo po yan, ang nangyari po is nawalan ng espasyo para makapangisda ang mga maliliit na mangingisda at kailangan pa pong bumyahe sila ng 15 kilometers away from the shoreline para po makarating sila sa lugar na pwede silang makakuha ng isda,” he added.
(When these structures were built, what happened was that the small fishermen had limited fishing ground and had to sail 15 kilometers away from the shoreline to reach an area where they could catch fish.)
Antiporda also made it clear that only the fishing structures, not the mussel farms, will be dismantled.
“Lilinawin po natin, wala pong katotohanan na pati yung mga tahungan ay ididismantle. Pero ito pong mga fish pen na ito, itong mga illegal structure na fish cages, mga baklad po, yan pong hindi pinapayagan,” he said.
(We want to make it clear that there’s no truth that even the mussel farms will be dismantled. The fish pens, the illegal structure of fish cages, those are prohibited.)
A fishermen’s group condemned the DENR’s order to dismantle fishing structures as it will wipe out the livelihoods of about 15,000 fisherfolk.