Lanao Sur fisher folks get fiberglass boats

Every time I see poor farmers and fishermen cry as they receive farm implements and fishing gears from government for the first time, I feel a lump in my throat.feel happy for them but at the same time I am sad that government has overlooked little things like these very important implements which they need to produce food.The Philippines has one of the least mechanised agriculture in Asia and many of our farmers are still using carabaos in tilling their fields.Many of our fishermen rent wooden fishing boats from the affluent families in their neighbourhoods for at least P200 every fishing day just to be able to catch fish.Worse, many of them still cut down a tree to make a boat.That mixed feeling of joy and sadness was the same feeling I had when the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) in the ARMM distributed fiberglass fishing boats to the first 20 families in Malabang, Lanao del Sur on Thursday.Witnessed by Malabang Acting Mayor Raizoli Sarip Balindong, the fishermen proudly wore the blue shirt of the BFAR as they received the first 10 units of the beautiful, sturdy and environment-friendly fiberglass fishing boats.Following a policy I set where two fisherfolk families would own one fiberglass fishing boats, the first recipients on Thursday were two Sama fishermen, also known as Badjaos who admitted that they could not read or write.I had to explain to them what was written in the framed certificate, which came along with the boat complete with engine and fishing gears, stating that they were the owners of the fiberglass fishing boats.The second team was a Maranao father and son partnership who said that the boat was the first they will ever own in their lifetime.Undersecretary Eduardo Gongona, BFAR Director, and BFAR ARMM director Janice Musali has committed 50 more fiberglass fishing boats for Malabang and 50 more units for each of the five other coastal towns of Lanao del Sur.I have also directed BFAR to program the distribution of additional fiberglass fishing boats for fishermen in the towns surrounding the 35,000-hectare Lake Lanao.The DA will seed the lake with millions of Tilapia and Bangus fingerlings as part of our effort to lower the poverty incidence of Lanao del Sur from 74.3 percentto about 35 percent by the end of the term of President Rody Duterte.Providing available and affordable food is the first step in the war against poverty.