Tuesday, October 31, 2006 With peace in the highlands, ex-MNLF rebels turn to the sea
MALAPATAN, Sarangani -- From a distance, a village here populated by Tausugs looks like a hidden paradise with the fantastic view of sunrises and sunsets dotting the horizon most of the year.
The reflection it creates in the water is like a battlefield scenario where hues of glaring orange and red are seen from a vantage point.
But no, residents at Purok Juluano in Barangay Sapu Masla have no plans to turn their community into a vibrant tourism spot.
Rather, they are working to transform the seafront as a possible industrial gateway for high value edible fishes in demand in the domestic and international markets.
What makes the venture more interesting is that the people behind it are battle-weary individuals belonging to the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).
"War has its good side," said Rashid Bani, chairman of the Sapu Masla Fisherfolk Association, pointing to the floating fish cages at the seafront from inside a native hut standing next to the mangroves.
"Had we not fought government forces in the 1970s, I don't think we can have this project that somehow eases our economic burden," he explained.
Sapu Masla, this town's Muslim populated community, was a once a "no man's land" in the 1970s when the war between government and MNLF forces was at its peak.
Bani, who served as a local MNLF intelligence and liquidating squad officer, recalled that Muslim villagers have to flee the community and move to the mountains to avoid summary executions allegedly perpetrated by soldiers and government militia forces.
The notorious Ilaga group identified with convicted priest killer Norberto Manero was blamed for the massacre of 70 Muslim families in the area in one of the group's murderous rampage, according to Bani.
After the government and the MNLF signed a peace agreement in September 2, 1996, Bani and his men left their mountain lairs to start their lives anew in the low lands.
They were hoping to be integrated in the military and the police, as part of the agreement between their leader Nur Misuari and the government in the peace pact.
Unfortunately, Bani and 50 or so MNLF combatants failed to land in the 7,500 slots allotted by the government to the integration program.
Still they consider it a blessing in disguise.
With the forging of the peace pact, help from foreign donors started to pour, among them the Livelihood Enhancement and Peace Program of the Growth with Equity in Mindanao (GEM), a United States Agency for International Development-funded program.
Bani organized his men to avail of the project. They ventured on milkfish growing for several years but abandoned it due to low cash potentials, with pick-up price fetching P50 per kilo.
In 2003, they resorted to raising talakitok (trevally), which Bani said has good potentials in the domestic market as it is high value specie, but the problem is fingerling supply is not stable.
The fisherfolk association sells talakitok at a delivery price of P130 to P150 at the fish port complex in nearby General Santos City. The group has eight fish cages, where each unit contains normally 600 fingerlings for an average harvest of 200 kilos.
But due to irregular supply of talakitok fingerlings, the group has to find other high value fish varieties.
The fisherfolk association in 2004 experimented in growing humpback grouper, still assisted by GEM under another scheme called Target Commodity Expansion Program.
"This program is geared towards establishing high value products and sustain it," said Cary Andigan, GEM project development specialist for aquaculture concerns.
Andigan said they initially provided the fisherfolk association with more than 200 humpback grouper fries imported from Indonesia.
Slated for harvest early next year, he said, "Prospects for humpback grouper fries, which are also being tested in the waters of Basilan province, are bright."
The potentials of humpback grouper, which can be harvested after 14 to 18 months and highly in demand in China, has lured a businessman from Central Mindanao region to embark on the project.
Manchan Ang, owner of ACH Corporation based in Cotabato City, has provided the fisherfolk association with additional humpback fingerlings early this year.
The businessman and the rebel returnees have forged a marketing agreement for the pioneering fish-growing venture in the locality eyed for the Chinese market.
"It is actually an experimental program of GEM but geared towards commercial production later on if the initial results turn up well," he said.
Ang contributed 600 more fingerlings to the beneficiaries owing to the variety's potential in the Chinese market as told him by his Chinese friends.
In Guangzhou, China, per piece of such mature kind fetches at least 500 yen, or P3,250 (one yen @P6.50), he noted.
Humpback grouper sells at a high price as it used to be caught in the deep sea until Indonesian successfully cultured them in cages, Ang explained.
Believed it or not but a humpback grouper fingerling cost P70 each (which includes all the cost of transportation from Indonesia).
A single fry alone is already higher than ready-to-cook tilapia that is selling in the local markets at P65 per kilo.
The return on investment, he believed, will easily be realized given the expensive tag of the fish.
Assuming that the mortality rate will be 10 percent, the more or less 900 pieces would still amount to over P2.5 million when sold to the Chinese market.
Given such potentials, Ang expressed hopes the beneficiaries could later on breed humpback groupers in the locality using technical assistance from GEM.
Under the marketing agreement with the rebel returnees' association, Ang will provide at least 80 kilos of formulated feeds aside from the 600 fish stocks.
In turn, the association's counterpart will be the fish cages, labor and other feed requirements.
The association members, Bani said, is keen in trying to make the humpback grouper venture a big success, so that the blessings could be spread among them.
Thirteen members have so far owned fish cages from the association's years in operation and if the latest venture proves to be a hit, the other members would be given their own, one at a time or depending on the resources, through the proceeds of the sale, Bani said.
Looking back at their beginnings, Bani could only smile at the significant changes in their lives.
"Before, we use paddles to row our boats. Now, we have motorized pump boats. All of these happened because of the fishing project undertaking," he concluded.
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