Since earliest childhood, Arnold Ursabia has always been fascinated by the ocean and its diverse marine life.
Ursabia loves the ocean so much that he joined other reef rangers to protect the marine resources of Aloguinsan town in northwest Cebu.
Aloguinsan is an eco-tourism destination because of its rich marine resources.
Ursabia and 42 other fishermen under the Bonbon Fisherfolks Association (Bofa) patrol the sea to protect marine life and its environs.
“As fishermen, our source of livelihood is dependent on our ocean’s marine resources. However, these resources are not here forever so these should be protected so the next generation would not blame us for the loss of marine life,” said the 35-year-old fisherman.
Aside from being a sea patroller, Ursabia is also the barangay’s on-call electrician.
Ursabia hails from barangay Siocon, Bogo City in northern Cebu.
In 2004, he and his family moved to his wife’s hometown of barangay Bonbon in Aloguinsan after the company he was employed with closed down.
He said his transfer was a great opportunity for him to indulge in his advocacy for the environment.
There in Aloguinsan, he tried odd jobs, including being a habal-habal driver, to make both ends meet.
Though he knows welding and refrigeration, he relies mainly on fishing for their livelihood just like when he was still in Siocon, a seaside barangay.
He recalled that when an issue about exploratory oil drilling operations off the town’s coast by a Japanese firm cropped up in 2006, he was one of the locals who opposed it being the mouthpiece of Bofa.
“We went straight to the office of the mayor to complain as we were worried about the impact of the oil exploration on our livelihood and to the marine life,” he said.
In 2008, Ursabia was elected president of Bofa. One of the association’s projects was the planting of mangroves in a six-hectare area in the shores of Bonbon. Their project aimed covering the 10-hectare coastline.
Some of the 6,000 mangroves that they planted are now about three to four feet tall.
He said they bought the mangrove propagules at P5 per bag or 10 centavos each. The group also initiated a coastal clean-up.
The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) lauded Bofa for their environmental initiatives.
He said their association also established a cooperative with an initial capital of P5,000 in 2010.
The cooperative now has P200,000.
He said the wives of members manage the cooperative, which sells household and food products.
The group also holds meeting every month.
“As fishermen, our responsibility is not only towards our families, but also include taking good care of our ocean,” Ursabia told the members in one of their meetings.
Bofa members also distributed fruit-bearing seedlings to all barangays in the town during the first edition of the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. (RAFI) Run 2 Plant for GREENIN Philippines in 2009.
Ursabia is also chairman of the Municipality Fisherfolks and Aquatic Resources Management Council (MFARMC) of Aloguinsan and leads the Protected Area Ranger and Wildlife Enforcement, the town’s Bantay Dagat body for the past five years.
He is also vice president of the Aloguinsan Reef Ranger Association and a member of the Provincial Fisherfolks Federation board of directors.
“As sea patrollers, we are tasked to protect the municipal waters against commercial fishing and other illegal activities. We also protect the 18-hectare marine sanctuary of neighboring barangay Cantabugon,” he said.
He said that with sea rangers riding patrol boats keeping watch at night, dynamite fishing has been checked.
An offer to work abroad as an electrician would have been an opportunity for greener pastures for him and his family but he turned it down because of his commitment to his causes and advocacy.
“If I leave the association, I am afraid the members can’t stand on their own and will abandon the group,” he said.
He is thankful that his family is very supportive of his personal advocacy.
He is confident of leaving behind a worthy legacy to his two young children.
Ursabia’s father was former chairman of Bogo’s Bantay Dagat. He said other people thought that his father, who was once a barangay official in Siocon, forbade him from joining politics.
“People can do better things even they are not into politics. My father always told me not to do illegal activities. My father’s deeds served as an inspiration for my endeavors,” he said.