Lockdown yields first bangus harvest for HMC

MANILA, Philippines  — A bangus farming project sponsored by Hinatuan Mining Corp. (HMC), a subsidiary of Nickel Asia Corp. (NAC), in Sitio Bagong Silang, Tagana-an, Surigao del Norte, yielded more than 1,700 kilos of bangus in its first harvest ever, which happened during quarantine.

“This is a big achievement for us small fisherfolk, because the lockdown has limited our movements in the community and the bangus helped many of us during this quarantine,” said Lilibeth Becera, President of the United Fisherfolk Association of Bagong Silang (UFAOBS) in Tagana-an.

According to reports, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) has records showing that the country’s municipal fisheries subsector has been experiencing a steady decline in production due to a host of reasons including oil price hike.

The community relations team of HMC, under the leadership of its resident mine manager Francisco Arañes Jr., started working with the leadership of UFAOBS and its 90-strong membership in April last year to address the issues of fishery and livelihood in the mining communities and decided to fund the bangus project which was officially launched on January 2020.

“It is a showcase of an ideal team effort in a responsible mining community – the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources or the BFAR, the Mines and Geosciences Bureau or the MGB, and the dedication and hard work of the members of UFAOBS.  We are all proud and thankful for the success of this bangus project,” Arañes said.