A TOTAL of 578 registered fisherfolk on Friday, June 23, received cash incentives amounting from P1,000 to P2,000 from Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) under the Bantay-Laot Program.
This made Davao Region as the pilot area to implement the program under the supervision of BFAR National Director Eduardo Gongona. The fisherfolk recipients are from 23 barangays in Davao City.
“This is the first time that we are giving away cash incentives to Bantay-Laot members. I hope that the money that you will receive will be used wisely,” Department of Agriculture (DA)-Davao Technical Director Angelina Pancho said during the turnover ceremony at the BFAR regional office in Davao City, quoting agriculture secretary Emmanuel Piñol.
Bantay Laot Program is an initiative of the DA-BFAR to deter illegal fishing activities and to protect threatened marine and aquatic species in the municipal waters by capacitating subsistence fishers, particularly the Indigenous Peoples as sea guardians or sea watchers during closed season in nationally-declared Fishery Management Areas.
BFAR-Davao Regional Director Fatma Idris said that the program transects the Bureau’s program on F/B Pagbabago, coastal resource management and law enforcement to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.
Anchored on sections 24 and 158 of the Republic Act 10654 or the amended Philippine Fisheries Code, the program provides support to Local Government Units, Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Management Councils and municipal fisherfolk to include assistance in the training of Bantay-Dagat Task Force.
Last August 2016, Piñol made a promise during the turnover of 300 fiberglass boats to 600 registered fisherfolk in the Philippine Fisheries and Development Authority in Toril that these registered fisherfolk shall receive a cash incentive for undergoing support activities.
Guidelines for the said program materialized. Various activities like orientations, monitoring, control and surveillance; environmental briefing, and disaster preparedness trainings were laid down to capacitate and support them in their involvement in the program.
Other areas including East Sulu Sea, Basilan Strait, Sibuguey Bay, Palawan, Visayan Sea, Cagayan River and its tributaries in Cagayan Valley are set to follow the implementation of Bantay Laot Program during their respective observation periods.
The BFAR-Davao Region continues to maintain a sound implementation of various activities providing immediate and appropriate actions in the preservation and conservation of marine and aquatic resources of the region.