Friday, July 04, 2008 Pasil’s fish safe to eat, officials prove By Rene H. Martel Sun.Star Staff Reporter
ACTING Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama led Market Authority officials early yesterday morning in eating a variety of fish dishes at the Pasil Fish Port to show the public it is safe to eat seafood.
Officials organized yesterday’s activity in response to pleas from fish dealers reeling from what they said was a 60 to 80 percent drop in sales. Dealers blamed the plunge in sales to fears over the mv Princess of the Stars tragedy two weeks ago.
Consumers, afraid that fish sold in markets have preyed on the bodies of victims of the sea mishap, have shunned buying fish and other seafood. Bangus and tilapia are selling briskly because these are raised in fresh water.
City Market Administrator Raquel Arce said that since Sunday, three truckloads of fish from Zamboanga City have been turned down at the fish port because of very low asking prices.
“Gibalik na lang kay mas mahalin pa himoong buwad (These were returned because they’d sell better as dried fish),” she said.
While a large basin of anduhaw used to fetch more than P2,000, Arce said, the middlemen or those who buy wholesale for distribution in the province and other markets now offer only P1,100.
One such basin, Arce said, can contain 30 to 25 kilos, so that a kilo of anduhaw is bought at only P36.66 to P44.
“They say supply is abundant but demand is scarce, that’s why it’s cheap,” she said. “Sales are down. Dealers can’t also afford to lower the price further because they’ll be selling at a loss.”
Rama, City Health Department (CHD) Head Fe Cabugao, and Department of Veterinary Medicine and Fisheries Assistant Head Alfredo Galaroza ate yesterday the food set up at the fish port’s Phase I wholesalers’ section.
It was a “sutukil” (sugba, tuwa, kilaw) feast for the city officials.
“Superb!” said Rama, of the food served at the 6 a.m. activity.
He said there is no advisory either from the CHD or the Department of Health for people not to eat fish from Pasil, where other markets get their supply.
People who packed around the tables where Rama and the others ate witnessed how they enjoyed the food with gusto.
Any fears the consumers may have about eating fish are “psychological and baseless,” said Galaroza. “Layo ra ang nahitabo-an, naa ra na sa ulo sa tawo (That happened so far away, and all these fears are just in people’s heads).”
Arce said the fish in the Pasil Fish Port come from Bantayan in Cebu, Bohol Province, Samar and Mindanao, particularly Zamboanga.
She hoped that after what Rama and the others did, people will again flock to Pasil to buy fish.
