‘I don’t see any help from gov’t’
STILL TOILING Tired but not retired, Feliciano Suarez, 75, of Binangonan, Rizal province, says he needs to continue working as a fisherman despite the scarce catch in Laguna de Bay. JHESSETO. ENANO
(Second of a series)
FELICIANO Suarez has known the waters of Laguna de Bay all his life. He is 75, and his habits have been shaped by the lake and its changing conditions through the years.
Suarez, known as Tata Feli in his community, is one of the elderly fishermen in Barangay Libis in Binangonan, Rizal province. He was born on Talim, the most populated island in Laguna de Bay, to a family that largely depended on the lake and its resources. Now, he and his wife, Viring, live in one of the many houses dotting the lakeshore, which borders the southeastern side of the province.
Tata Feli said that throughout the election campaign not one politician visited the place. Posters of candidates, however, are displayed everywhere, their smiling faces turned away from the lake.
“I don’t see any help from the government,” Tata Feli said. “No one really visits us. Maybe just now because there’s a wake here.”
In the Philippines, to live as a fisherman is to live in poverty. The Philippine Statistical Authority reported that in 2012, the fishing industry was the poorest sector, with a poverty incidence of 39.2 percent, even higher than the national figure of 25.2 percent.
The presidential debates highlighted the platforms of the five candidates, including programs for people relying on fisheries as their main source of livelihood. All the aspirants planned to extend the coverage of the conditional cash transfer program to fishing families and make the government subsidize their capital for livelihood.
Laguna de Bay is the largest lake in the Philippines, with a surface area of about 900 square kilometers. According to the Laguna Lake Development Authority (LLDA), it is bounded by six provinces, 12 cities and 49 towns that are economically dependent on the lake.
LLDA records showed that aquaculture production in 2012 totaled 150,957 metric tons, or 3 percent of the total national production. Studies also revealed that two-thirds of the freshwater fish requirements of Metro Manila, such as tilapia, come from Laguna de Bay.
Dwindling lake catch
Tata Feli and his family have relied on Laguna de Bay all their lives. He recalled that when he was young, the lake teemed with fish. A fisherman would spend only an hour or two in his boat and he would have enough for the whole day.
“We never really thought it was important to finish school, because the lake could provide for us,” he said. “It was enough to know how to read and write.”
The situation is different now, Tata Feli said. The lake is shallow and murky, far from the body of crystal-clear water that he remembers from his youth. The fish are significantly fewer, too.
Small fishermen in Binangonan partly blame the decline in the lake’s productivity on the Napindan Hydraulic Control Structure (NHCS).
The structure was built in 1983 to prevent the backflow of saline and polluted water from the Pasig River into Laguna de Bay, making the lake water suitable for irrigation, domestic and industrial uses. It is also one of the components of the Effective Flood Control Operation System, which aims to prevent flooding in the surrounding cities and towns.
For the people of Libis, however, the goals of the NHCS are contrary to what the government has promised. While Metro Manila is spared flooding, rainwater trapped in Laguna de Bay inundates the low-lying towns on the lake’s rim.
In 1992, the fishermen were alarmed by the sight of sickly looking fish. Fisherman Ronel Arambulo, 30, told the Inquirer that some fish had exposed bones, while others had “boils.” The fishermen believed the cause was the lack of saline water, which used to flow into the lake, mixing freely with its freshwater.
According to a study done by the Japan-based International Lake Environment Committee (Ilec) Foundation, fish catch from Laguna de Bay declined to 13,060 MT in 1996 from 44,741 MT in 1993.
Invasive fish species
At present, the situation is even worse, Tata Feli said. Fishermen contend with the decline of the lake’s productivity caused by industrial pollution, domestic waste, fertilizer runoff, and siltation and sedimentation. The lack of government policy and programs also resulted in the lake’s deterioration.
“Before, even if you just wade in the lake, there’s catch and there’s food to eat. Now, mud is your only catch,” Tata Feli said. “The water is shallower, muddy and smells terrible. It really affects the fish, if there are any.”
Invasive fish species, such as the janitor fish and the knife fish, also contribute to the lake’s rapid demise.
“The janitor fish is such a huge burden to us. You can’t sell those,” Tata Feli said. Janitor fish compete with other fish for food, destroy fishing nets and contribute to the siltation of the lake. “At least the knife fish, we can sell … but only for export,” he said.
Both the janitor fish and the knife fish were accidentally introduced into Laguna de Bay and became pests. A survey conducted by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources in 2013 found that the knife fish comprised 40.35 percent of the fishermen’s total catch, much bigger than the harvest of aquaculture fish, including tilapia and milkfish (bangus).
Fish cages
Fish pens and fish cages also significantly grew in number on the lake, reducing the areas for open fishing for small fishermen. The Ilec study noted that the pens grew from 38 hectares in the 1970s to more than 30,000 ha in 1983. This has sowed conflict between fish-pen operators and other fishermen relying only on their boats and nets.
A son of Tata Feli used to fish, but left the lake when he found out that some fishermen were shot when they came close to the pens. He now works as a tricycle driver in the same town.
Tata Feli’s other children are working at different jobs far from Binangonan. Not one of them is interested in fishing because of the meager income and lack of support from the government.
This story is not unique. Many other men and women living by the lakeshore do not engage in fisheries anymore. They have chosen other jobs, such as construction work.
But Tata Feli is too old and frail to shift to other jobs. He is on constant medication for asthma, a condition he developed after many years of working in the lake.
Still, Tata Feli shows no signs of stopping anytime soon.
Alternative livelihood
He now mainly relies on shrimp catch, which he can do much nearer to the shore. Every day at 3 a.m., he walks from his home to the lake, gets in his boat and lowers his shrimp traps for about an hour or two.
“I’m lucky if I get to about 2 kilos of shrimps,” he said. Tata Feli sells his catch for P90 per kilo, barely enough for his family’s food and other needs, as well as payment for debts.
Without the aid of government officials, small fishermen like Tata Feli rely on organizations like Pamalakaya (National Federation of Small Fisherfolk Organizations in the Philippines). The alliance has given him the blue boat that he now uses every day.
“We don’t rely on the government. We rely mostly on ourselves,” he said.
Tata Feli said, however, that he would vote in Monday’s elections, hoping that the new President would really help the poor. But the struggle for Tata Feli and the other fishermen would continue.
“When I stop fishing, it means I have stopped living,” he said. “But while I still can, I will continue to fish.”
(Editor’s Note: The Inquirer is running a series profiling the plight of six disadvantaged basic sectors of society—farmers, fishermen, senior citizens, people with disabilities, contract laborers and overseas Filipino workers—as their situations have been high on the governance priorities of the presidential candidates. Jejomar Binay, Rodrigo Duterte, Grace Poe, Mar Roxas and Miriam Defensor Santiago have vowed to increase the productivity of the sectors while promising them poverty alleviation programs, such as cash doles and subsidies.)
READ: ‘We’ve seen how easy it is to forget promises’
