Bangus prices drop after typhoon’s onslaught

MANILA, Philippines - Bangus or milkfish literally flooded the market in Hagonoy, Bulacan, making prices drop days after Typhoon Glenda ripped through the country, officials said yesterday.

Vice Mayor Pedro Santos told The STAR that the price of milkfish dropped to P30 to P40 per kilo as of Friday. He said milkfish was sold at P110 and above per kilo before the typhoon.

Half of the 13,000 hectares fishponds and fish cages in this coastal and fishing town were damaged when Glenda traversed Manila Bay on Wednesday, according to an estimate by Mayor Raulito Manlapaz.

Santos said while local fishpond operators lost their investments, fisherfolk benefited from the release of the farmed fish.

Fisherfolk along the coast of Barangays Pugad and Tibaguin laid their nets to catch what they described to be the “natural distribution of wealth” after the storm. Children also caught fish in small nets they cast from the shore.

According to initial reports by the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office, 322 fishpond operators lost P29.3 million to Glenda’s fury.