Nature Exploitation and Protection in Mindanao 105 A green patch in ’s blue waters

By Tomasito Villarin*

EVELOPING green patches in an otherwise grey Dlandscape is a challenge that advocates and practitioners of sustainable development often face. The story of a fishing community in , Governor Generoso town, is one such green patch. The community-based ecological enterprise project earned for the municipality, and the NGOs-POs behind the project, the third prize in the prestigious Toolkit Citizens Participation Award of the Nether- lands in 2004, an internet-based global competition in promoting participatory governance. The first prize went to the Metropolitan city of Nelson Mandela in South Africa; second prize went to the city of Blacktown, Australia. Situated in southwestern Davao Oriental, Governor Generoso has 20 barangays, of which 14 arre coastal, all facing the . A census in year 2000 showed a population of 42,705 with 8,297 households. Majority of the households (5,000) are fisherfolk, mostly subsistence fisher- security program to financially support small fishers men. Fishing and farming are the major sources of and provide cheap and readily available supply of livelihood. fish for the local populace. The NGU partnered with The town is known for its vast (90,000 NGOs in a community organizing program that set hectares) marine grounds; subsistence fishers up fisherfolk cooperatives in each . The contributed about 35 percent of the total municipal mayor also initiated aa livelihood assistance pro- fish production, and the remaining 65 percent, by gram, in coordination with the Fisheries Resources commercial fish operators in the town and in nearby Management Council (FARMC), NGOs and fisherfolk Mati town. A single big operator controls commer- groups. A series of barangay development planning cial fishing with its eight 5-tonner boats and several sessions was held, through a participatory rural hundreds of employees. The community, however, appraisal (BDP-PRA) training and actual planning, in has long declared war on commercial fishing — partnership with NGOs like the People’s Alternative which it blames for the “overfishing” — and got the Development Center and the Sustainable Integrated Sanggunian to ban this within the 15-km municipal Area Development SIAD Initiatives in Mindanao waters. Convergence for Asset Reform and Regional Municipal fishery data show that most of the Development (SIMCARRD). The result: the resort to traditional marine/fishing grounds have been a barangay-based “payaw” fishing method. “Payaw” degraded, with fish yield declining. This has trig- is an indigenous, environment-friendly method gered alarm bells and generated suggestions for proven efficient in many parts of the country. urgent measures: the regulation of fishing, restric- The presence of organized communities of tions of commercial fishers vis-à-vis the small fisherfolk and farmers was a strong mark of this fishermen in the area; and alternative fishing project. The new set of proenvironment officials methods in order to ensure no disruption of local starting in 2001 also helped change the tide in favor fish supply. of the small fishers and farmers. The most promi- The people also elected in 2001 a new set of nent of these is ex-priest Jerry dela Cerna, who in local officials deemed to be proenvironment. The the 1990s was already active in a campaign against new local government quickly initiated a food illegal logging. Father Jerry, as he is fondly called,

* Tomasito Villarin is the Executive Director of SIAD Initiatives in Mindanao Convergence for Asset Reform and Regional Development (SIMCARRD) and formerly Executive Director of KAISAHAN and Institute for Politics and Governance (IPG).

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was the moving force behind the “Barug Governor occasion for the fish population in municipal waters Generoso””movement composed of organizations of to be replenished. Payaw are repaired and the church, laity, farmers, women and fishers. maintained during lean months, and new ones Tired of traditional politics and the lack of installed. political alternatives in his hometown, Father Jerry The payaw system is a deep-sea, double-layer entered the electoral fray in 1998, but their group bamboo raft built and deployed at several layers of was soundly beaten, with his background as a boundaries within municipal waters, to be used by former priest used successfully by rivals to muddle the marginal fisherfolk’s hook and line fishing, gill the issues. A second try in 2001 was successful. netting and other types of nondestructive fishing Besides sheer determination and solid organizing gear. It will also operate along the food chain link or work, the group got help from the NGOs and the prey-predator relationship. The double-layer Akbayan (Citizens’ Action Party). The poll victory bamboo will be lashed together in V-shape forms, was replicated in 2004, with dela Cerna winning the most commonly used payaw at present. The raft along with his vice mayor and seven (out of eight) has a floating section with the fish shelter attached councilors. below; the mooring line section composed of cable SIM-CARRD, meanwhile, started work in the wire and rope and other accessories; and the town in late 2003. Set up by NGO figures involved in anchor made of concreted sand and gravel. The agrarian/asset reform, local governance, network bamboo raft payaw lasts for one year, depending on formation and peace-building in Mindanao, it has sea surface conditions. In other areas, payaw are been at work for more than five years now. It is built of sturdier materials like metal frames and regarded as the secretariat of the Barangay-Bayan trusses, which last longer but cost more. These Governance Consortium in Mindanao (BBGC), a types are targets of pirates and thieves, which sell network of local NGOs doing community organizing the metal to junk shops. for resource tenure improvement, democratic The payaw project is meant to provide participation in governance, and network formation sustainable livelihood to small fisherfolk associa- and peace advocacy. SIM-CARDD was set up with tions, while protecting and enhancing the the help of the Institute of Politics and Governance. sustainability of the coastal marine environment. SIM-CARRD’s partner in the BDP-PRA sessions Specifically, it aims to: in 20 barangays, the local-based NGO called 1) strengthen the organizational capacity of People’s Alternative Development Center (PADC), small-scale fishermen to manage the project for was strategic in consolidating the political and their direct benefit; community organizing objectives of the project. It 2) operate nondestructive fishing accessories has a presence in the so-called “Balusig” municipali- and support small-scale fishermen for easier, ties—Banay-banay, , San Isidro and Governor additional income; Generoso towns, all facing the Davao Gulf and 3) ensure abundant fish supply and enhance comprising the second legislative district. local food security; 4) stop the unfair competition provided by Payaw fishing method commercial fishing against marginal fisherfolk in the Filipino subsistence fishermen have tradition- same area. ally used payaw or fish shelter and its prototype called fish-aggregating devices (FADs). Local Technical aspects fishermen adopted the FAD with some modifications The fish shelter project was done by fisherfolk in order to attract different species of pelagic fish. associations in 14 coastal barangays and supervised Payaw was observed to greatly boost the catch of technically by the Fisheries Management Union of tuna, tuna-like and other pelagic species within the the LGU. The NGOs, through the Foundation for 15-kilometer municipal waters. Sustainable Societies Inc. provided a soft loan to The fish shelters or FAD will be installed at the build it; with the municipal LGU shouldering pre- and boundaries of the municipal waters of Governor post-project expenses and the deployment of a 10- Generoso. Fifty units of payaw will be distributed to tonner mother boat, to be used for fishing in the the 14 coastal barangays, four of which are delin- payaws set up along the 15-kilometer boundaries. eated as marine and fish sanctuaries where com- Local fisherfolk organizations and the barangay mercial fishing is barred. The fishing operations governments were tasked to organize the Project usually last 10 months from March till December. Management Committees to supervise the payaw in January and February are lean months, and an the 1-7-kilometer municipal waters.

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The project will be evaluated and monitored organizational stand as a means of boosting income by the assisting NGO and the LGU representative. and distributing resources. Installed at 1,000 to 1,400 fathoms deep, the payaw also serve as markers to delineate the water’s Project costs municipal boundaries. The wind, wave direction, (a) Construction of the FADs is the counterpart water current, water surface topography and of the project proponent. presence of small fish like anchovies, among others, (b) Five FAD units will be deployed for each as food for large migratory fish like tuna, are all coastal barangay, excluding the four coastal considered in determining payaw sites. barangays to be identified as marine/fish sanctuar- ies. Marketing operation (c) Fifty fish shelters will be set up, to cost an Disposition of the fish catch from the payaw is average of P30,000 per unit, excluding labor and determined from the start, through a consultation other organizational expenses (deployment of among local fisherfolk federation and the municipal payaw, organizational meetings), which will cost PO federation under Barug Governor Generoso. For P7,000 per payaw; the latter will be the counterpart each payaw, the payaw-owning fisherfolk-barangay of the community/LGU. gets 25 percent of the harvest of the LGU’s mother (d) SIM-CARRD’s counterpart is the monitor- boat; another 25 percent goes to paying the soft ing of the project. loan; another 25 percent for maintenance/opera- tions; and the last quarter-share as municipal Prospects and obstacles proceeds. Of the 25-percent share of the fisherfolk- The FSSI approved a total of P900,000 for the owners, 10 percent are for expenses for project project to fund the construction and installation of repair, maintenance and marketing. Each payaw is 48 FADs/payaws with the fund to be received by estimated to catch on average 600-1,000 kilos per SIM-CARRD in two and a half years. The SIM- day (assuming 40-50 payaw established) during CARRD signed a memorandum of agreement with peak season. the LGU, fisherfolk federation and the FARMC last The fisherfolk associations of all coastal April 19, 2004. The first tranche of P60,000 was barangays are the direct beneficiaries, being the released in April 2004 and the second tranche of payaw owners; but they are responsible for market- P420,000, in June 2004. The rest was released in ing their share of the catch. September 2004, The proponent waited until after the May Organization and management 2004 elections to start the project. The incumbent The proposed FADs are under the SIM- mayor, a first-term official, had initiated the 1.5- CARRD’s ownership, to be transferred later to the kilometer ban on commercial fishing and promoted local fisherfolk organization-barangay government social reforms, which were resisted by certain upon payment of the direct cost of P30,000 per groups. He rode on these reforms to snatch payaw over a 30-month period. The FAD’s operation electoral victory, with him and his party bagging all shall also be monitored from time to time by an LGU contested municipal posts except two slots for representative, SIM-CARRD and by the MFMU councilor. One anecdote making the rounds tells of personnel for proper guidance and project opera- how the fishes helped the mayor because two tion. days before the polls, there was a bountiful catch, negating the vote-buying activities of the enemies Mechanism for implementation of reform. The direct beneficiaries are a group of The losers filed preproclamation protests to bonafide small fisherfolk and residents of coastal deny Mayor dela Cerna of viuctory. Despite Comelec barangays of Governor Generoso town. They are decisions dismissing five of the 12 cases, the losers venturing in this to uplift the local fishery industry invoked an en banc ruling and threatened to go to and help keep the municipal waters in optimum the Supreme Court. People’s organizations in turn production condition. From their income share (25 launched a sit-down protest in the town on June 26, percent from the purse seine or ring net produc- culminating I a vigil until July 1, 2004, when the tion), they can maintain the project and set up more local Comelec proclaimed dela Cerna and his slate payaw units. winners. Throughout the ecological enterprise project With their mandate clear, the mayor and his phase, the proponent envisions strengthening the partymates pursued the reforms earnestly, and one

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of the vehicles for doing this was the project with tween fisherfolk and consumers. In early December SIM-CARRD. 2004, a women’s organization called Malakaya Twenty payaws have been installed and now based in entered into a memorandum of operational; some 300 kilos of tuna and other pelagic agreement with SIM-CARRD to market the fish in fishes are harvested daily, with the catch distributed urban poor communities in Davao City. SIM-CARRD to barangay buying stations for domestic consump- agreed to provide them with a fishcar payable in 1-2 tion. Each barangay identifies indigents in the area, years if Malakaya puts up its counterpart of at least for entitlement to a 40-percent discount. The excess P50,000 for fish trading/buying. catch is then sold to the “lab-aseros” or the fish Project partners and beneficiaries paid their compradors or a people’s organization/cooperative. loans only twice, despite an enforceable contract of The average harvest of 500 kilos daily is expected to repayment they signed with SIM-CARRD. Such was rise once the target of 48 payaws is reached. attributed to the abovecited management problem. The project saw management problems in Externalities like pricing, trader control, volume of late 2004, because of the lack of clear systems and fish catch, and increased maintenance cost are seen accountabilities. A fracas erupted among the to complicate the chances of repayment within the mother boat’s crewmen, leading to the termination 30-month period agreed upon. of jobs of 45 people. The project management staff, Meanwhile, the municipal government is also where lines of authority were vague, was the object starting to venture into seaweed production. It has of a revamp. Before, all decisions had to be brought crafted a feasibility study and business plan to to the mayor, which was not feasible because he is produce and market seaweed in Governor Generoso a busy man. Two key people were later identified as and two outlying towns—Banay-Banay, Davao pointmen, one in charge of production and boat Oriental and in Pantukan, . This operations; another, for marketing of produce. Both venture complements the payaw project and the report to the mayor and the PMC. town’s coastal resource management plan. Besides management issues, the project faces On hindsight, it may be surmised that com- stiff competition from commercial fishing operators munity-based reform programs can generate an who have also set up their own payaws. Established exciting impact on local livelihoods. However, they fish traders also dictate prices and control small also open up an entirely new field to community fishers who owe them loans often given at onerous stakeholders like a full-blown community enterprise rates. Thus, SIM-CARRD plans to venture into a that operates within the realm of market forces. direct fish marketing/buying side with the small The lack of capacity and skills of the reform fishers’ group and the municipal fishing project—the constituency can be a real hindrance to achieving point being to deny middlemen of a chance to buy the goals of the ecological enterprise project, as fish at ridiculously low rates——by offering a well as sustaining the gains in local governance competitive price and direct marketing links be- reforms.

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