THE recent decision of Dagupan City Mayor Belen Fernandez to ban the entry of ‘alien’ bangus from other provinces, specifically, Bulacan, is undoubtedly welcomed by the city populace, particularly the Dagupan bangus growers and traders with a deep sigh of relief.

Note the title of the City Ordinance No. 21792019 passed in 2019: “Ordinance To Protect the Dagupan Bangus Industry and Enhance consumer Information by Regulating the Local Sale of Bangus Sourced from Outside the Geographic Boundaries of the City of Dagupan, Providing Market Schedule and Penalties for Violation. ” One would think that, indeed, the city government then under Mayor Brian Lim was out to protect and promote the growth of the Dagupan bangus industry but what was approved was quite the opposite.

The passage of that ordinance was, in fact, a mockery of efforts to promote Dagupan bangus and practically guaranteed a lucrative trading for Bulacan bangus growers in the city to the serious detriment of the Dagupan bangus industry.

How else could anyone interpret the intention of the ordinance when what was passed was doubling the maximum quota of deliveries stated in the original version? From 200 to 300 ‘banyeras’, and from two days to three days of deliveries?

Worse, the City Agriculture Office that was tasked “to accredit, certify and strictly monitor the dealership of each consignation” never reported a single violation of the ordinance by the Bulacan bangus traders who were delivering far exceeding the volume defined in the ordinance.

It certainly doesn’t take a nuclear scientist to figure out what was happening. The doubling of the volume was made possible by the ‘lobby money’ from the alien bangus traders. Then there was the iron-clad ‘protection’ extended by the Lim administration. In both instances, the dirty money was shared among the mayor’s office, the persuasive councilors (who pushed for the doubling of quotas), personnel of the city agriculture office (that turned a blind eye to the daily violations of the quotas), and the market supervisor’s office (that allowed the alien bangus to be mixed with the Dagupan bangus to help sell them to unsuspecting buyers.

How else could anyone explain the large volume of Bulacan bangus being passed off as Dagupan bangus in Metro Manila markets since 2019 because the cargo trucks came from Dagupan City?

The racketeering of the Dagupan bangus brand made corruption in the city hall become a daily fare with no one looking.  Fortunately, that one blatant attempt to destroy the Dagupan bangus industry is finally stopped.

Share your Comments or Reactions

comments

Powered by Facebook Comments