Fishpen ordinance lacks teeth–Molina
DAGUPAN City’s ordinance for fishpen operations needs more teeth.
City Agriculture Officer Emma Molina made this point when was invited by the city council on July 19 to shed light on the fishpen issue.
Molina also asked the city council to review the ordinance which she said contains no penal sanction against violators except the cancellation of the Aquatic Lease Agreement (ALA) and the forfeiture of a P2,500 resource use deposit (RUD).
“But what is P2,500? It is only equivalent to only few banyeras of fish,” said Molina,
The ordinance, enacted in 2003, requires interested fish pen operators to forge an ALA with the city government before building fishpens in any of the local rivers.
Under the ordinance, the applicant must pay an ALA fee of P6,500, mayor’s permit of P150, license of P300 and a one-time P2,500 RUD, which can be tapped when the city demolishes the fishpens vacated by the operator.
The ALA is renewable with the corresponding fees.
She also said that under the ordinance, the city cannot even collect arrears from the defaulting operators.
ILLEGAL
Molina lamented that out of the 700 existing fishpens in the city’s rivers, only 124 fishpens are now covered by ALAs, which means all the rest are operating illegally.
Molina said they have already splashed red paint on portions of the illegal fishpens to indicate that these are subject for demolition but her office has yet to receive any order from the administration to undertake the demolition.
Questioned by Councilor Dada Reyna, Molina also narrated that up until 2006, there were 797 fishpens that secured licenses but because of the decrease in the price of milkfish that year, going down to as low as P40 to P55 per kilo, many operators were not able to renew their ALAs.
In April 2007, a month before elections, the city council then passed an ordinance giving ALA holders a 50 percent discount in consideration of the market conditions.
The succeeding administration of former Mayor Alipio Fernandez implemented the discount in 2007, but operators have since interpreted the ordinance to be continuously in effect.
Molina said operators have refused to accept their explanation that the discount was intended only for 2007 in consideration of the fall in milkfish prices in 2006.
The collection from ALA fees only reached P1.2 million in 2009 as compared to P5 million when the ordinance was first implemented in 2004.
Molina said the ALA fees collection from January to June this year has so far reached P931,000.
NEW PEN
Meanwhile, Vice Mayor Belen Fernandez, who chairs the city council, brought up the subject of yet another new fish pen built just in front of the Eternal Gardens memorial park.
Molina explained that it is owned by former Barangay Chairman Bebot de La Cruz of Calmay, who applied for an ALA but built the bamboo enclosures even before her application was duly processed.
Fernandez said she is surprised why Molina still entertained De La Cruz’ application when she knows that Mayor Benjamin Lim intends to clean the rivers of all fish contraptions.–LM
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