October 23, 2015

Increased density of fishers and improved gear efficiency leave the Philippines’ major bays and gulfs including Bicol’s San Miguel Bay and Burias Pass in a heavily exploited condition. Meanwhile, 70% of our country’s coral reefs are highly degraded and fish biomass target declined to five to 10 kilograms per 1,000 square meters.

That is the general status of the country’s fishery resources, said Philippine Rural Development Project (PRDP) Project Support Office (PSO) South Luzon Natural Resource Management (NRM) Specialist Ferdinand Cruz.

To contribute to biodiversity conservation and strengthen the coastal and marine resources base in targeted project areas, PRDP will integrate the P287-million-worth grant from the Global Environment Facility (GEF), an international organization that helps address global environmental issues, to the Project’s institutional reforms.

One of the target GEF sites for PRDP is the Donsol-Ticao-Burias Pass in Sorsogon and Masbate provinces. This covers marine protected areas (MPAs) in the municipalities of Magallanes, Matnog, Pilar, and Bulan in Sorsogon and the Municipality of San Fernando in Masbate. The Burias and Ticao Pass possess globally threatened species including whale shark Rhincodontypus, hammerhead sharks, and extensive coral reef, mangrove, and sea grass ecosystem.

To enhance the institutional and planning capacities of local government units (LGUs) and communities in target GEF sites in the region, PRDP-Bicol in partnership with the PSO South Luzon conducted the Small Livelihood Project (SLP) Proposal Preparation Workshop at Villa Isabel Hotel in Burabod, Sorsogon City on October 20-22, 2015. The said workshop was attended by municipal agriculturist officers (MAOs), agricultural technicians, and representatives from various people’s organizations in Pilar, Magallanes, and Matnog, Sorsogon as well as San Fernando, Masbate. Staff from the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist and the Provincial Project Management and Implementation Unit (PPMIU) of Sorsogon also participated in the activity.

Aquaculturist Cherry B. Legaspi provided updates on the value chain analysis (VCA) for seaweeds while Cruz discussed the status of GEF-NRM implementation in Bicol. Regional Project Coordination Office (RPCO) V Investments in Rural Enterprises and Agriculture and Fisheries Productivity (I-REAP) staff Patrocinio B. Collao I also discussed the I-REAP Process, VCA-PCIP-Enterprise Prioritization link and business modeling. Workshops on business modeling and SLP preparation and revision were also conducted.

Cruz said that the SLP Preparation Workshop is a follow up of the Marine Protected Area Management Planning Workshop facilitated by the Investments in Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Plan (AFMP) Planning at the Local and National Levels (I-PLAN) on July 21-24, 2015, also in Sorsogon. He said that currently, PRDP is providing technical assistance in the preparation of SLP and MPA proposal in parallel with the I-PLAN’s VCA preparation. He mentioned that geotagging and zoning validations were already conducted at Butag Bay Fish Sanctuary and Marine Reserve in Bulan, Sorsogon, Matnog Marine Protected Area/Fish Sanctuary and Seaweeds Production Area in Matnog, Sorsogon, and San Fernando Fish Sanctuary and Marine Reserve in San Fernando, Masbate.

Cruz added that the SLPs under PRDP aim to provide an alternative source of income to communities along the target GEF sites to encourage them to do away with illegal fishing, regulate activities within MPAs, and conserve biodiversity.

“Napaka-strategic ng areas in terms of biodiversity conservation. Our objective is to increase biomass in project areas by 10 percent and boost the level of management effectiveness of the LGUs in the target GEF sites,” he stated.

Meanwhile, Emmanuel E. De Guzman, MAO of Matnog, Sorsogon, said that the proposed Seaweeds Production and Processing SLP will help address overfishing in his community. He added that it will also uplift the quality of lives of many fisherfolk in the area who have recoursed to working as boatmen in nearby resorts despite unstable income due to the decline in seaweed production in their coastal barangays.

Cruz urged the concerned LGUs to organize, strengthen, and focus on the social preparation of proponent groups in sync with SLP preparation. Moreover, he stressed the need to highlight production in their proposed SLPs.

SLPs consist of alternative livelihood or income generating activities worth not over P5 million in GEF areas under PRDP’s I-REAP component. GEF-supported activities in target areas include conservation implementation investments, coastal and marine ecosystem management implementation, and technical and operational capacities of stakeholders enhancement.

PRDP is a six-year project that aims to establish an inclusive, market-oriented, and climate-resilient agri-fishery sector. With a total project cost of P27.48 billion, the budget allocated for PRDP consist of P20.50 billion World Bank loan, P287 million GEF grant, P3.579 billion National Government financing and P3.118 billion Local Government Units (LGUs) equity. (Annielyn L. Baleza, I-SUPPORT InfoACE Unit, DA-RAFIS 5)

PRDP PSO South Luzon Natural Resource Management (NRM) Specialist Ferdinand Cruz discusses the general status of Philippine fishery resources during the Small Livelihood Project (SLP) Proposal Preparation Workshop at Villa Isabel Hotel in Burabod, Sorsogon City on October 20-22, 2015.

Matnog Municipal Agriculturist Officer Emmanuel E. De Guzman presents his output for the business modeling workshop during the Small Livelihood Project (SLP) Proposal Preparation Workshop.

PRDP PSO South Luzon Natural Resource Management (NRM) Specialist Ferdinand Cruz (in maroon) and RPCO V I-REAP staff Patrocinio B. Collao I (in green) provide technical assistance to the local government unit of San Fernando, Masbate during the Small Livelihood Project (SLP) Proposal Preparation Workshop at Villa Isabel Hotel in Burabod, Sorsogon City on October 20-22, 2015.