BusinessWorld Internet Edition

OPINION

A fishy fish tale
Bernardo V. Lopez
Thursday, February 19, 2004

It would seem that GMA gave a monumental order favoring fisherfolks which won their hearts, but her very own people are now subverting it quietly under the table in behalf of vested interests. They, perhaps, do not realize that such covert moves will go against GMA's reelection bid. In fact, GMA herself may not know what is really happening. Fisherfolks make up a big chunk of the electorate, and they smell something terribly fishy.

Our fish story unfolds with DENR Secretary Gozun rescinding the controversial Department Administrative Order (DAO) 17, mandating the delineation of municipal waters where commercial fishing is banned. It was reported earlier that two congressmen, members of the Commission on Appointments (CA), who represents commercial fishing interests, used their CA positions to pressure Gozun to rescind DAO 17.

In December 2003, discerning that vested interests were undermining the spirit and intent of DAO 17, GMA ordered its reinstatement in a cluster meeting at the DA attended by fisherfolks. The fisherfolks were totally elated.

But the back room boys are back in their covert moves. The ball is now with DA Secretary Cito Lorenzo and Malcolm Sarmiento, Jr., head of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), a DA-attached agency, to issue a new AO to give teeth to DAO 17, namely the implementing guidelines in fulfillment of GMA's order. But, alas, instead of giving it teeth, the DA literally "defanged" DAO 17 into a useless, ineffective, and fishy edict called AO 01. The Kilusang Mangingisda labelled it weak and useless, and said, "We are told that the DA had spent millions of pesos for these (DAO 17) consultations. Now here comes its result in a weak AO 1... It is all a waste of money." AO 01 also triggered a threat of mass resignation of all 24 fisherfolk representatives in the government-sponsored multi-sectoral Fisherfolk Council of the National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC). This is not only an embarrassment to GMA but also a hint of an impending loss of votes from the fisherfok commu! nity. Let us now try to explain how DA's AO 01 defangs DENR's DAO 17.

The core issue revolves around the magic words "archipelagic principle" contained in both the Constitution and DAO 17. This simply means that, if a municipality has outlying islands, the 15-kilometer-from-shore area banned to commercial fishing is extended to 15 kilometers around its outlying islands. The Constitution, under Article 13 Section 7, is simply giving preferential rights to small fisherfolk fishing within municipal waters, including these islands,since the commercial fishers have bigger boats, nets, and capital to go out to sea.

The commercial fishers want the archipelagic principle rescinded because they say that so much is added to the banned area for commercial fishing in the process. From interviews, however, I have discovered that it is not the much larger banned area due to the archipelagic principle that bothers the commercial fishers. The target of the commercial fishers are the islands themselves, which are fish sanctuaries yielding a gold mine for the taking.

The most affected by the archipelagic principle is the sardine industry which gets their small fish for canning near these islands, and which is desperate to dilute DAO 17. But the dilemma is -- they overfish by using fine nets that also destroy corals when they are dragged back to the boats. This means, the sardine people will eventually kill their own business anyway, and kill the livelihood of the small fisherfolk long-term as well. But they would have become affluent enough to go to other enterprises once the island-bound marine resources are destroyed.

If the sardine business is lucrative but non-sustainable, and destroys livelihood of small fishermen, then perhaps we should think twice about continuing the sardine industry itself. Perhaps we should have a "sardine moratorium." There will be a lot of protests, but this is a critical ecological problem on top of the socio-economic issue.

The target of the sardine firms are the outlying islands near Zamboanga City,which has become the sardine capital of the nation. Ironically, it is the so-called isobath zone near these islands which makes our marine resources rich,resilient, and sustainable. Any moves to damage these have long-term ecological effects.

To prove that sardines seem to be the core issue, let us cite a report. There is a recent documented report, which are worrying fisherfoks, given by the Agri-Aqua Development Coalition that fishermen caught Mega Sardines Corp.fishing at Sindangan Point, five kilometres off Barangay Punta in Liloy, Zamboanga del Norte, three times in September and October 2003, which they said was illegal.

AO 01 defangs DAO 17 in a very subtle way. AO 01 is only half an edict, giving guidelines only for those without islands. The fisherfolks are smelling something very fishy. They feel the second half of the edict for those with islands, i.e. the archipelagic principle, which is expected to come out at the end of February, will totally dilute the intent of DAO 17. Is this at the behest of powerful influential sardine people? Why was the edict split into two? Was it in preparation for this dilution? Was it to neutralize huge protests by divide-and-conquer tactics?

Fisherfolk report that Atty. Ben Tabios, head of DA's legal division, said that the second half of the edict will leave out the archipelagaic principle and will simply let NAMRIA (attached agency of Gozun's DENR) use its own mapping standards. Now we see why there is a planned mass resignation at the NAPC. If this is done, not only does it defang DAO 17, but it illegally contradicts it. I wonder how GMA feels about this move by her back room boys. Is she aware this is happening, covert moves against her very order? Does she not realize that this is affecting her potential votes among the millions of fisherfolk nation-wide?

On top of these schemes are the conflicts of interests within the DA-BFAR consortium and the commercial fishers trying to influence their policies. According to fisherfolk, the wife of BFAR head Malcolm Sarmiento, Jr. is the niece of Congressman Sandoval, CA member and alleged owner of a ship repair facility in Palawan, and uncle of a commercial fisher. Sarmiento directly supervised the BFAR team which authored AO 01. Congressman Lobregat, also of the CA, as reported by fisherfolks, is the cousin of Lorenzo. AO 01 was signed by the "junior triumvirate"-- Lorenzo Jr., Sarmiento Jr., and DA USEC Cesar Drilon Jr.

We are in an age where presidents are put down by their very own people without their knowing it. Decisions and orders made at the lower levels do not reflect the political will of the people above but the vested interests of the people around. The implications of these decisions and orders are not analyzed, not only the electoral implications, but also the social implications of impoverished small fisherfolks.

Gasoline, a critical input to fishing, is increasing at an astounding rate. While the big fishers have the capital to absorb such increases in production costs, the small fishers do not. They, who are in the millions, wallow in poverty and meager incomes, while the handful of commercial fishers, with their huge vessels and labor force, attempt to take away the morsels the small fishers are grappling to get.

The municipal fisherfolks wish to convey to GMA their plea not to allow this subtle covert moves by her own people to materialize and impoverish millions in the process.

The beauty of our Constitution lies in its power to address this social problem. That is why the archipelagic principle became a key provision. But those who have the money and influence, and those in power collaborate to subvert it in the name of big business and to the detriment of small business.

:: Bing Friday, February 20, 2004 [+] ::
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