DEMOLITION OF ILLEGAL FISH PENS

THE Dagupan City government is having its hands full in dismantling over 300 illegal fish pens that mushroomed in the city’s river tributaries that their owners refused or failed to dismantle in accordance with the agreement they reached with the former to remove the pens by December 31, 2015.

In order to fast-track the dismantling and demolition of the illegal fish pens, the city government has decided it will resort to using trawlers or big boats to run over the pens in lieu of individual manual efforts by the Task Force Bantay Ilog to destroy the pens particularly those installed along the Pugaro River, a body of water that separates the island villages of Pugaro and Salapingao.

Maximo Solis, one of the team leaders of Task Force (TF) Bantay Ilog showed newsmen five pages of a logbook that lists names and signatures of the fish pen and fish pen owners and their caretakers. All were notified by the City Agriculture Office (CAO) to demolish their structures before Dec. 31, 2015.

 

Solis said the TF can only demolish few fish pens manually a day since it requires detaching and pulling out the bamboo poles deeply driven to the bottom of the river.

The trawler, he said, can easily ram through bamboo enclosures and destroy the bamboo poles.

He said he was informed that City Agriculture Emma Molina has already prepared a budget for the rental of a trawler to be used in demolishing the fish pens.

Solis said without the trawler, it would be difficult to set a timetable for the completion of the removal of all illegal fish pens.

At presstime since Wesnesday, only five were removed: one pen owned by Erwin Dy, two fish pens owned by Leo Bautista located in Baybay Salapingao, one pen owned by of Lorenzo Parayno. Sarah Jane Maramba of Longos in Bonuan Boquig also voluntarily tore down her fish pen along the Dawel River.

At the same time, the TF members complained that their efforts are often delayed and hampered by constant pleas for extended periods to be able to harvest their stock just like what the caretaker of a 35 by 30 meter fish pen owned by Dy in Baybay Salapingao did.

But the TF had learned in the past that the pleas for extension to harvest were actually used as a ploy to restock their pens with the presumption that they can again plead for extended grace periods. This time the TF proceeded to remove Dy’s pen without much ado.

Solis said that it takes only a few hours to build fish pens and it’s done mostly at night and monitoring them has been difficult owing to lack of manpower, mobile assets and logistics.

He said the executive order issued by Mayor Belen Fernandez on Wednesday expanding the composition of the Task Force Bantay Ilog that previously included only personnel of the City Agriculture Office will help greatly in enforcing the newly amended ordinance that bans illegal fish pens.

The membership of the task force now includes the representatives from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, Philippine National Police, PNP Maritime Group, City Engineer, Public Order and Safety Office, Liga ng mga Barangay and Fishpond Owners Association.

Meanwhile, the issuance of the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of the ordinance remains pending. When asked about the status of the IRR, Molina said the technical aspects in the IRR were finally forwarded to City Legal Officer George Mejia on Monday for the legal provisions.

During the dismantling operations, newsmen who joined the TF heard a man shouting at the top of his voice from the bank of the Pugaro River in Barangay Salapingao threatening to sue the TF.

Solis also received a call in his cellphone from a Salapingao resident also threatening legal action against members of the demolition team for their action.

He said these are the hazards they meet during dismantling operations. (Leonardo Micua)

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