Fisherfolk leader Roberto Magbanua Ballon had long dreamed of a hatchery to supply his group with fingerlings for high value fish, crablets and Oyster Spawns.
On July 20, when the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) team visited Kabasalan, Zamboanga Sibugay, Ballon shared with me his dream when I checked on his groups fish cages, King Crab farms and Oyster gardens at the mouth of Kabasalan River.
“Indi kami puede magsalig sa wilds para sa fingerlings kag crablets kay madisturbo namon ang environment kag ecological balance,” he told me.
(We cannot rely on the wilds because we could disturb the environment and ecological balance.)
On that day, he was just Ka Dodoy, the funny fisherfolk leader who led people in his coastal community in rehabilitating the mangroves bringing back crabs and fish and providing a spawning ground for Oysters.
MinDA worked on his dream and engaged the South East Asia Fisheries Development Center (SEAFDEC) in a technical cooperation to set up the hatchery.
Today, after a two-day journey from Kabasalan to Tigbauan, Iloilo, the headquarters of SEAFDEC, Ballon will witness the signing of a MOA between MinDA and SEAFDEC.
He is no longer just Ka Dodoy but a distinguished fisherfolk leader who had just been chosen as a Ramon Magsaysay Awardee for his work in Kabasalan.
For Ka Dodoy, it’s a double unexpected blessings – winning the Ramon Magsaysay Award which carried a $20,000 prize and seeing the realization of his dreamed hatchery.
Indeed, blessings sometime come as twins.
#KungGustoMaramingParaan!
#GovernanceIsCommonSense!
(Photos from files and taken by Japhet Masculino and Mayette Tudlas.)
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