Fishpond conversion issue: Who’s in charge?

By Sunshine Erfe-Mallary

DAGUPAN City has become known as the Bangus Capital of the World. It was in the previous city administration that this title for Dagupan was propelled and has been carried on even until now, thanks to the continuous promotions given it.

The City Fishery Code under Ordinance No. 1768-2003, known as the Dagupan City Coastal Fisheries Resources Management Ordinance, paved way for the utilization of the aquaculture related activities in the city.

This ordinance is an attempt to systemize the operations of marine resources in Dagupan in such a way that it will boost the yield of the famous Dagupan Bangus, thus paving way for Dagupan to be truly the Bangus Capital of the World.

However, if one takes a cruise along the new four-kilometer Dawel-Pantal-Lucao Highway, now known as the De Venecia Extension, one can note the blatant conversion of fishponds through backfilling. Other similar vast reclamation that has taken place in the past few years not so far from this area were the construction of a mall and a prime subdivision.

When I first heard about the campaign to become the Bangus capital of the world, I thought it a bit ambitious since the bangus industry of Dagupan is not that large in scale to compete with other places that probably have much bigger marine area for bangus culture and could therefore yield more production. But hey, if it is the local government’s aim then there must be corresponding measures to achieve it.

Then again, presently there are these fish pond conversions into land and non-agricultural use. I wonder how the city can justify its claim or intent in competing globally when even its first class fishponds are slowly disappearing.

Ms. Emma Molina of the City Agriculture Office (CAO) said that they have no stand in these conversions since they are not part of the process, “I will not comment on that because that is not my turf. That’s a regulatory function.”

When City Planning and Development Officer Romeo Rosario was questioned on the permission of this fish pond conversion into non-agricultural use, he reports having already raised the issue to PENRO. “When you fill up a body of water, it alters the movement of the water. These are environmental issues within their direct sphere of authority. If DENR allowed such conversion, the possible adverse facts must be considered in detail. Fish ponds are being converted left and right without any mitigation to safeguard such conversion.” He says that in the transformation of reservoir, the owner should be able to prove that it is no longer viable to continue the use of fishpond and a permit should be obtained from the concerned government agencies.

According to Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office (PENRO), the matter is supposed to be turned over to the Philippine Reclamation Authority. Aside this, property owners get prior clearance from Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR). These are privately owned fishponds and the only part of DENR is the issuance of Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC), which is granted by the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB). However, this is not a permit since there are more necessary documents for compliance. And that any violation of the provisions of the permit could be a justification to revoke the ECC issued to the person.

Wendy Co of PENRO, meanwhile, remarks, “We want a good environment in Dagupan City. But we have a law on private property. They can do anything on their property. We have no police power to stop those things. It is vested on the local government’s mandate. On our part, hands off kami. But if there are issues, then they can always bring that to our attention. Then I can immediately forward that concern to the higher authorities.”

“PENRO has no hand at all on this. Actually, nagugulat na lang kami may na-issuehan because we do not even recommend this. It’s the DENR, EMB Regional Office,” Co further explains.

The EMB’s Engineer Joel Salvador was in China and unavailable for comment at the time I called.

Everyone appears to be out of it, so who’s in charge of this matter that is crucial to the bangus industry?

What sort of preservation or protection is the local government doing for the bangus industry? Maybe fish pens could provide a substitute shelter for bangus culture – but that’s another story.

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