Fish pen owners in Mandaue say dredging deprived them of their livelihood

08/05/2024

MANDAUE CITY, Philippines — The Housing Urban and Development Office (HUDO) in Mandaue City has started clearing the fish pens in Barangay Banilad to make way for dredging activity in the area.

The fish pens are part of the wetland in Barangay Banilad and Cabancalan area that the city government wants to dredge.

The wetland, with an area of 146,270 square meters, functions as a catch basin, holding rain and runoff water from neighboring areas such as Cebu City.

Because it is already silted, the water tends to backflow into a nearby private village located just in front of the wetland.

Charlyn Garcia, one of the fish pen owners, said that HUDO personnel started the clearing yesterday.

She alleged that they immediately began demolition, and owners were unable to retrieve their fish.

“Diretso ra sila taak, gihigtan nila ang net unya gipabira sa backhoe,” said Garcia.

“Gibuhian nalang kay unsaon paman to, dili man gihapon to mabutang sa daplin kay sa kainit sa adlaw, dali ra kaayo mo-init ang tubig. Useless ra gihapon imo ipadaplin kay mamatay ra gihapon,” she added.

The affected residents have consistently expressed concerns about their livelihoods, which depend on selling aquarium fish and other types of fish like tilapia.

“Nanginabuhi ra mi og tarong. Grabe ila’ng lutos sa amo. Wala man unta mi nagpabadlong sa Mandaue. Panawagan nako nga malooy sad unta sila namo dili tangtangon panginabuhian. Asa nalang man mi ani dangop, nga lisod pa kaayo ron unya kadaghanan dinhi mga tiguwang na dili na madawat sa panarbaho,” said Garcia.

Ernie Manatad, executive secretary of Mayor Jonas Cortes, said that around 100 fish pens will be cleared.

“Kinahanglan gyud. We have to do it quickly para ready nata. Maabot na ang tingbaha,” said Manatad.

The city government planned the clearing since last year, but it was yet to be implemented due to some matters and processes that needed to be completed.

Manatad said that the clearing was supposed to be conducted last week, but it was postponed because some fish pen owners had not yet retrieved their fish.

Manatad added that fish pen owners were notified, and a series of meetings and forums were conducted before the clearing was implemented.

Manatad also claimed that fish pen owners were given monetary assistance. He stated that it is necessary to clear the pens and dredge the wetland to help solve the city’s flooding problem.

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