Being the one of the major suppliers of fish products, one of the goals of the province of Bataan is to further develop the production of sardines. However, with the province’s only existing one cold storage, fishers from Mariveles pour in extra labor in order to have their products stored properly.

Additional transportation costs are incurred due to fisherfolk travelling all the way to Orani and Balangi City to buy ice, to maintain the freshness of the fish and to achieve longer shelf life.

With the intervention of the Department of Agriculture’s Philippine Rural Development Project (DA-PRDP), a new ice plant with cold storage will soon be established and will benefit 240 farmers in Barangay Batangas II, Mariveles, Bataan.

With a total project cost of P21.8 million (enterprise, civil works and proponent group equity), this marks the first subproject funded and implemented by PRDP in Bataan. It will be operated by the Kaizen Multipurpose Cooperative, a duly registered cooperative currently with 169 members.

The groundbreaking ceremony held last June 20 signaled the start of the implementation of the PRDP subproject, led by Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol and local chief executives.

“The main objective of this enterprise is to offer accessible and adequate supply of block ice at a lower price, which will be sold to fisherfolks and block ice retailers,” said Project Support Office (PSO) Luzon A Project Director Roy Abaya during the ceremony.

Expressing her gratitude, Kaizen chairperson Dolores Magpantay said that it was not easy for the team to achieve the long-awaited project.

“From the moment we were told about the project, we did not hesitate to write to the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist (OPA). It was definitely not easy for us to come up with all the needed documents. In fact, it took us almost three years, but now everything is worth the wait,” recalled Magpantay

She added, “Rest assured that we will do our part in uplifting the lives of the fishers, not from our cooperative, but also from the whole of Bataan. We are truly thankful to everyone who worked on this proposal.”

Aside from this, PRDP has also approved custom service facilty projects in Bagac, Orani, Abucay and Pilar and a farm-to-market road connecting Barangays San Antonio, Parang and Saysayin. ### (Kayla Arceo, DA-PRDP PSO InfoACE)

DA Secretary Manny Piñol leads the groundbreaking of the ice plant with cold storage in Mariveles, Bataan. The P21.8M PRDP enterprise subproject will focus on the production of block ice and cold storage services. (photos by Darrell Sunga, DA-PRDP PSO InfoACE)