Modern fish cage can make PH fish sufficient, Piñol says

Former Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol said that utilizing modern fish cage farming technology, particularly the submersible fish cages, can make the Philippines fish sufficient, even in typhoon-prone coastal areas.

In a Facebook post on Wednesday, Piñol cited that 5,000 fish cages, estimated to yield 20 metric tons (MT) each, could produce 100,000 MT of milkfish, which is 40,000 MT more than the country’s annual fish supply shortfall.

“One of the cruelest jokes we Filipinos have inflicted upon ourselves is importing food commodities that we could easily produce if only we recognize our resources and potentials,” he said.

Problems, challenges

He added that any program aimed at achieving fish sufficiency in the country should be supported by a well-coordinated effort that involves technology provision, affordable feeds, financing, and marketing.

Piñol said the country has

In one of the recent episodes of the One Davao Presser, Regional Director Nonito Llanos said that the government is due to provide a socio-development package that includes monetary assistance and technical skills training to equip those who would be affected either to find another means of livelihood, employ as bus driver under the modernization program, or do technical jobs at terminals of modernized transport vehicles.

To strengthen the ranks of public utility drivers, the LTFRB assists them to organize into cooperatives or corporations so they would become part owners of the public transport units not plainly drivers or lone operator-driver.

“If ma coop na sila, mamahimo na silang tag-iya, usa na sila sa mga tag-iya. They will become owners of the units. Naa silay regular nga sweldo. Dili na boundary system at the same time, kung unsa ang income sa ilang cooperatiba, uyon sa ilang internal na pagasabutan, naa sila share sa income sa maong mga modernized units. (They will become part owners if they would be organized as coops. They would then have regular salary that would no longer be on a boundary system, and at the same time, whatever would be the income of their cooperative, based on their internal agreement, they would have income

In the PUVMP, owners of PUV and PUJs owners would have to keep their units as private vehicles but aged PUVs and PUJs of 15 years and above, would have to be taken to the LTFRB scrapping center for destruction Llanos said, owners would be given due remuneration based on the assessed value on top of the socio-development package.

Meanwhile, Retired Police Col. Dionisio Abude, chief of the Davao City Transport and Traffic Management Office (CTTMO) revealed that the City Council of Davao had already passed a City Ordinance mandating the grant of the socio-development package to PUJ drivers who would be affected by the High Priority Bus (HPS) System implementation of the city government.

Abude said that even tricycle drivers who would be losing livelihood due to the routing of high-priority buses, are also entitled to receive socio-development package and skills training assistance.

The CTTMO screens the list of duly registered PUJ drivers in the city and conducts education program relative to the implementation of HPBSS that is due to start in the last quarter of 2024, he said.

Meanwhile, LTFRB Public Transport Modernization Program focal, Engr. Ronnel Victor Panigon said LTFRB had so far facilitated the formation of 30 transport cooperatives regionwide. “Sa van, 96 percent units na na-formed nga transport coops. Sa PUJs, 86.57 percent. Taas ni nga percentage,” he said during the One Davao Presser.