Preparing for Crisis! 3 Moro Gulf Coastal Areas Eyed In Fish Cages Project

As the farmgate prices of fishcages grown Milkfish (Bangus) soared from P110 to P156 per kilo recently and projected to go to as high as P170 by the 2nd Quarter of 2022, I am personally leading the effort to establish aquaculture production areas in at least three areas in Mindanao.

These areas as Parang, Maguindanao, which is part of the Bangsamoro Region, Sultan Naga Dimaporo, Lanao del Norte and Olutanga Island in Zamboanga Sibugay.

While I have already resigned from government as I have joined the Senate race in May 2022, I have imposed on myself, as a Food Sufficiency Advocate, the task of helping address a looming fish supply and prices crisis which would hurt Filipino consumers.

With a bit of luck, I met with a group of retired US Navy Officers of Filipino descent in my recent trip to California, who asked how they could invest in Philippine Agriculture.

I suggested to them Aquaculture Production, especially Bangus, which is in great demand here in the Philippines and also in Filipino communities in the US and other countries.

This was actually one of the investment areas promoted by the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) when I was Chairman for over two years.

At 10 a.m. today, I will meet with Agriculture and Fisheries Minister Mohamad Yacob of BARMM to brief him on the prospect of bringing investors to the Bangsamoro Region for Aquaculture Production.

The Bangsamoro Region is the country’s top fisheries production area mainly because of its vast seas and ideal climate.

Later in the afternoon, I will proceed to Polloc Port in Parang, Magjuindanao where I expect to meet Mayor Cahar Ibay whose town had declared a wide bay near Polloc Port as a Mariculture Park.

I have asked my former agency, MinDA to help faciitate the engagements with the local chief executives of the prospective investment areas because it had initiated the Mindanao Fisheries and Aquaculture Development Program.

The investments would include the establishment of fish cages in the bay fronting the areas, aqua feed mills, ice-making and cold storage faciities and processing facilities which would create jobs for the local people.

It may take at least one year before the proposed mariculture areas could start producing but it is a timely preparation for an expected shortage and astronomical increase in the price of fish in the country.

#GovernanceIsCommonSense!

#KungGustoMaramingParaan!

#FoodSufficiencyIsNationalSecurity!