MBTF: No compromise for illegal fish pens
HUWAG NILA AKONG SUBUKAN
DAGUPAN City Mayor Belen Fernandez confirmed the sudden proliferation of illegal fish pens in Dagupan but clarified that these are few compared to the number of fish pens that mushroomed in the city’s rivers before she took over the reins of the city government.
She vowed that all these will be removed, warning the owners of her resolve. “Huwag nila akong subukan!” (They should not provoke me).
In a televised interview before leaving for Manila for her flight to Chile where she will address a world ocean convention, Ms. Fernandez said the few remaining fish pens that remained are tended by “hard-headed” operators and have been issued notices to remove their structures.
“We have given them three notices and talked to them because I am a person who, as much as possible, would rather exhaust my patience first and would not go to the extent of slashing their nets as I know they too invested money for their fish pens,” she said.
But she added, “Enough is enough as I’ve extended my patience too long.”
The mayor said one of the things she did to finally stop the construction of illegal fish pens is to finally ban the unloading of bamboo poles along the Jose T. de Venecia Expressway Extension used to build the fish pens in the island barangays.
“We are now guarding this area to stop anyone from unloading bamboos that may be used for fish pens,” she added.
The few remaining fish pens are owned by few individuals who, she said, play a cat and mouse tactic with the Task Force Bantay Ilog.
“Remember, we removed from 280 to 300 illegal fish pens that were teeming in our rivers when I took over. We do not want these fish pens to return and again wreak havoc in our rivers,” she intoned.
She recalled that the Task Force Bantay Ilog removed a 1.2 hectare fish pen about three months ago and the owner got angry with her and resorted to attacking her unfairly in the media.
Ms. Fernandez said she is resolute in addressing the problem of fish pens and the cleaning of the city’s rivers, citing Dagupan’s stature being recognized even by the U.S.-based Ocean Conservancy.
At the same time, she expressed hope that the Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP) will finally approve the ordinance she proposed banning fish pens in Dagupan City leaving only fish cages and fish traps which are environment-friendly.
She believes that the continued delay in the passage of the measure is what the unscrupulous businessmen are taking advantage, and are making sure that they are already in possession of the area when the ordinances takes effect.
The mayor maintained that the rivers of Dagupan are now in better shape during her administration after they removed from 280 to 300 fish pens than in the past administration which tolerated these structures, which she added is something that her bashers may have been too blind not to see. (Leonardo Micua)
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