BFAR turns over boats to fishers in Occidental Mindoro

CITY OF CALAPAN – The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources would turn over on Wednesday 11 boats to the crew of F/B Gem-Vir 1, which was rammed by a Chinese trawler in the West Philippine Sea earlier this month.

Elizer Salilig, director of BFAR in Mimaropa, said 22 fishermen would receive the fiberglass boats (with two fishermen sharing a boat), worth about P125,000.

“The bancas are bigger, with accessories and engine,” he said.

The crew of 22 fishers got national attention after the Chinese vessel allegedly rammed their boat, while anchored at the Recto (Reed) Bank in the West Philippine Sea on June 9.

The Chinese boat sped away, leaving the Filipino fishermen in the open water for hours until help from a Vietnamese boat came.

In a phone interview, Mark Anthony Sinag of the Department of Social Welfare and Development in Occidental Mindoro, said they would also give the fishers P10,000 cash assistance each, rice and canned goods.