Extra-large illegal fish pens still up
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
THE full dismantling of the illegal fish pens in Dagupan City has not been completed after all as earlier reported by City Agriculturist Emma Molina.
Task Force Bantay Ilog has asked for another week of extension starting September 18 to finally do away with all illegal fish pens in Dagupan City’s rivers.
Ronnie Cayabyab, task force action officer, conceded this team needs one more week to dismantle some 30 fish pens that are much bigger than the other demolished structures.
Concerned citizens, however, that made an ocular inspection of the progress of the demolition have already criticized earlier conflicting claims of City Agriculturist Emma Molina about the number of illegal pens dismantled.
According to the group it appears that more than 60% still appear to be untouched and operational.
A closer review of the data submitted to The PUNCH as of Friday, September 20, it would appear that, indeed, some 77 illegal fish pens are still untouched excluding those that are being claimed to legitimate.
Cayabayab doubted The PUNCH ‘s count and maintained that there are far less number to be demolished.
He said the confusion may be due to unreconciled records between his team and the office. He promised to submit a reconciled report to The PUNCH next week.
Molina could not be reached for her reaction at presstime.
Among the owners of the extra large illegal fish pens are Doming de Guzman, Ricardo Caguioa, Jun Dacurong, Allan Ballesteros, Erwin Dy, Lino Fernandez and Ismael Dacurong.
Cayabyab explained that their failure to meet the September 15 date earlier pledged by Molina, chair of the task force, was due to mechanical breakdowns suffered by the city-owned boat.
He added that his team also underestimated the sizes of the remaining fish pens that need to be demolished.
The remaining 30 fish pens have a capacity of up to 120,000 fingerlings.
“Each of these is actually equivalent to three standard fish pens… other fish pens contain 25,000 to 30,000 fingerlings,” Cayabyab explained.
Six of these are located in Sitio Tocok, Carael; five in Sitio Talaib, also in Carael; five in Lucao; three in Calmay; and two in Salapingao.
Task Force Bantay Ilog is composed of 26 personnel, divided into two teams with each team escorted by two local policemen, one of whom is a member of the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT).
He said the police escorts have become necessary because of threats and some caretakers fire their guns in the air.
As of Sept. 18, the task force already demolished 120 of the 150 fish pens that suddenly mushroomed just before the May election.
Mayor Belen Fernandez, upon assumption into office in July, immediately ordered the dismantling of the illegal structures as part of her administration’s program to clean Dagupan’s rivers and waterways.
CLAIMED TITLES
There are 48 structures that are on hold pending the evaluation of the city legal office and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources on the claim of the owners that their fish pens are legal based on land titles and tax payments.
Being claimed are some 44,816 sq. m. of fishponds lost to erosion (or 44.5 hectares of land area).
City Agriculturist Emma Molina explained that the owners of these fish pens had asked former Mayor Benjamin Lim to allow them to restore their structures after they were demolished by the latter by presenting their supposed land titles covering the portion of the river.
City legal officer George Mejia has not submitted his findings effectively allowing the owners to continue operating the fish pens that pollute the rivers. —with report from Eva Visperas
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