Philippines reactivating Marine Research Center in Pagasa

MANILA, Philippines — National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr. announced yesterday the government’s efforts to reactivate its Marine Research Center on Pagasa Island in the West Philippine Sea.

He said the move seeks to better study and safeguard the country’s maritime resources and look after the welfare of fishermen in the area.

“We are also now reactivating the Marine Research Center in Pagasa Island,” Esperon, who chairs the National Task Force on West Philippine Sea (NTF-WPS), said at a virtual press briefing.

“We might have to go into some cooperation with other countries so that we would be able to better study and protect what is ours in the Kalayaan Island Group and the rest of the West Philippine Sea,” he said.

Esperon said more vessels will also be deployed in the area next year through the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) and Philippine National Police (PNP).

Such patrols, he noted, have two primary missions – protecting the country’s eight stations in the West Philippine Sea, the biggest of which is Pagasa Island, and protecting Filipino fishermen.

“So with whatever capabilities we have, rest assured that our agencies are working together,” he said, noting that the government is doing a lot to assert its rights in the West Philippine Sea.

He said the Philippines is and always has been a maritime nation and fishing communities rely on the country’s vast marine resources, which is why it is the duty of the state to protect fisherfolk from harm and harassment and guarantee access to fishing grounds.

He added that the national government is working in partnership with Congress, local government units (LGUs) and communities to push for robust investments in maritime monitoring, scientific research, law enforcement and defense capabilities.

“These capabilities must encompass all aspects and domains. Not just the sea but also land, air, undersea, space and cyberspace,” he said.

Esperon said the government has even caused the procurement by the UP Marine Science Institute of four research vessels that will add to the naval research vessels of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the Department of Agriculture (DA).

Meanwhile, the DA said it continues to implement various programs and interventions to aid fisherfolk in the West Philippine Sea.

At a virtual presser yesterday, Agriculture Undersecretary for agri-industrialization and fisheries Cheryl Marie Natividad-Caballero said the DA through the BFAR continues to offer fisherfolk means to sustain their fishing activities.

These include the improvement of fishing vessels. “So we continue to provide improved fishing vessels, which are larger and more sturdy,” Caballero said.

She emphasized the need to work in clusters through organizations or cooperatives to be able to make the program more sustainable.

“We have to look at them in terms of their ability to sustain (the vessels) that’s why we work with organizations or cooperatives in terms of managing larger fishing vessels,” she added.

Caballero also said that in coordination with the NTF-WPS, the DA-BFAR is looking for ways to lower direct costs incurred by fisherfolk in conducting their fishing activities, including providing affordable fuel.

She stressed the need to ensure that fisherfolk have resources to catch when they go out to fish, so?the DA-BFAR is offering various technology interventions to augment supply, such as aquaculture. – Catherine Talavera