Tahungan sa Navotas, dine-demolish para sa gagawing modernization project | Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho
Ang industriya ng pagtatahong, ilang henerasyon nang bumuhay sa mga residente ng Navotas City. Pero ngayon, dine-demolish na ang mga tahungan dito para sa isang modernization project.
Ano rin ba ang paliwanag ng mga awtoridad dito?
Si Jessica Soho, nagpunta sa Navotas City para personal na siyasatin ang isyu.
Panoorin ang espesyal na ulat sa video na ito.
Ano rin ba ang paliwanag ng mga awtoridad dito?
Si Jessica Soho, nagpunta sa Navotas City para personal na siyasatin ang isyu.
Panoorin ang espesyal na ulat sa video na ito.
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FunTranscript
00:00The fishermen in the Philippine's fishing capital, Navotas,
00:08risk losing their livelihoods because of the rising tide that is being pulled and demolished.
00:31How is your livelihood now, father?
00:36Nothing, nothing. We just lost everything.
00:43How do you feel, father, when you see the fishermen here in Laot?
00:47It's really painful, what they are stealing, our livelihood.
00:50Because just like now, we don't have anything to eat. Where are we going?
00:54Father went there because he wanted to help the fishermen.
00:59But now, we don't have anything.
01:01When the tide is low, we don't have anything.
01:05That's what we are really hoping for.
01:09That's why I'm sick.
01:12They say it's garbage, but it's not garbage.
01:14That's what we live on.
01:16That's what we eat.
01:21The daily struggle in life and the search for livelihood of the Navotas
01:29is in the hands of those who are caught and fed from the sea.
01:35Including the fish.
01:42From their fresh fish that was just caught from the sea,
01:48they invented all kinds of products.
01:52Steamed fish, gourmet fish, and even fish chips.
01:59But now, the Navotas fishermen are worried.
02:03Because the industry that has been living with them for generations,
02:07is now in danger of dying.
02:11Because their nets...
02:14You will notice the net.
02:16...are being pulled away one by one.
02:25It's really heartbreaking.
02:27Can you see that the livelihood is almost gone?
02:32All of this is being done under the guise of modernization and urbanization.
02:39In simple words, innovation.
02:42But their question is, what is innovation for?
02:46They will choose poverty more than our livelihood,
02:50those who will be poor.
02:51Everyone is hoping for that.
02:57How many nets were damaged here?
03:00Less than 5,000.
03:02How many families are affected by this?
03:05That's a lot.
03:07In the promise of prosperity and prosperity,
03:10why does their livelihood need to be destroyed?
03:17Navotas Fishing Club
03:24The nets are trash.
03:26Do you believe that?
03:28No!
03:30In our program, the demolition of the nets in Navotas happened.
03:36Our nets are being demolished.
03:38That's why this Thursday, I went to Navotas to discuss the issue.
03:44Navotas is the fishing capital of the Philippines
03:47because from the first time until now,
03:51the supply of fish from Metro Manila and other provinces is here.
03:57It is located in front of Manila Bay,
03:59and this is where the fishing boats pass by.
04:02Sixteen of the barangays here live off the net.
04:07They are looking for livelihoods that are now in danger due to the development.
04:12But the affected residents here ask,
04:15what about those like them who are small?
04:23One of the affected barangays is the barangay Sipak Almacen
04:28where on March 16, their nets were demolished.
04:34Navotas Fishing Club
04:39That's why we are shouting the call for the demolition of the nets.
04:42Fight, fight, don't let it be destroyed.
04:46That's why the residents are hotly protesting.
04:50Fight, fight, don't let it be destroyed.
04:53This is where I met Romel, one of the leaders of the fishermen.
04:58How many nets were destroyed here?
05:01According to the estimate, around 5,000.
05:04How many families are affected by this?
05:07That's around 1,000.
05:10They say that the nets are being used by the big fishermen.
05:18There are many residents in Navotas who rely on nets.
05:22They have fishermen or those who swim in the sea to catch the nets.
05:32Navotas Fishing Club
05:40When the net is removed,
05:43the fish are kicked to separate the nets.
05:50Then, the big fish are separated from the small ones.
05:54Then, the nets are sent to the place where the nets are sold.
05:59How many nets do you have?
06:01Around 500.
06:03Because of the removal of their nets last month,
06:08it has a big impact on their livelihood.
06:12It's a disaster for people like Jennifer.
06:15Why are you selling these nets?
06:19How is your livelihood now?
06:21It's not good.
06:22Last year, my husband was harvesting.
06:25We only had gasoline.
06:26Whatever we harvested, we gave it all to others.
06:29First, we clean the net.
06:31Jennifer used to earn from 30,000 to 40,000 pesos per month.
06:37But ever since their nets were destroyed,
06:40the net price has dropped.
06:42She used to earn from 30,000 to 40,000 pesos per month.
06:45But ever since their nets were destroyed,
06:48they have to get supplies from other places.
06:53That's why her income is only 10,000 pesos.
06:56What do you see as a remedy or solution to your situation now?
07:01I hope that we will be given a place for ourselves.
07:04Our industry is dead.
07:06That's where we live.
07:08It is said that the government will provide an alternative income for them.
07:13But that's not enough.
07:16In reality, we only earn 6,000 pesos in 10 days.
07:18What is the reality?
07:19You will leave for 10 days.
07:21In one day, you will earn 610 pesos.
07:24After two years, you can apply again.
07:26We don't just eat for 10 days.
07:28You can also borrow 5,000 to 10,000 pesos.
07:31That's all you can eat.
07:32Before they did that,
07:34they prepared a livelihood program for us.
07:37And they didn't pay a single peso.
07:40For other farmers,
07:42not only did they lose their livelihood,
07:44but also their lives.
07:46Like what happened to Ms. Lidia's husband, Rodrigo.
07:51Please tell me what happened to my father.
07:53On April 2, he passed away.
07:56When he was buried,
07:57he was seen with his cousin.
08:00He was buried under the ground.
08:02When they buried him,
08:03his ears and nose were covered with blood.
08:06They rushed him to Nabota Hospital.
08:08When they got there, he was gone.
08:10Ms. Lidia believes that her husband
08:13was too obsessed with the demolition of her house.
08:17What will happen to the house when it's gone?
08:19What will happen to me?
08:21That's what we were hoping for.
08:25I was sick.
08:27We were the only two left.
08:30I don't have anything to live for.
08:33What will happen to me now?
08:35My father went there
08:37because he wanted to help the farmers.
08:40He wanted to help them.
08:43But...
08:44I don't have anything left.
08:45I just want to help.
08:48I just want to give medicine.
08:51I just want to give medicine.
08:55We're going to Laot
08:57to see where my father's fields are planted.
09:06Tomorrow, the sea will turn into land.
09:10That's what they call a reclamation.
09:13Many years ago,
09:15it happened here in Manila Bay.
09:17But as time went by,
09:19it was reclaimed by the fishermen
09:22because they needed more land.
09:24But on the other side,
09:26the fishermen and those who live by the sea,
09:32they don't have the right to live
09:36that they've been doing for more than four decades.
09:40That's just how it is.
09:42One day, their fields will be cleared
09:46and it will become a reclaimed area
09:48just like what happened in the past.
09:54That's the rice field.
09:56Those are the memories of their fields.
09:59We've been through others,
10:01but none of them are clean
10:02because they've been reclaimed.
10:03These are the only ones left.
10:05It's said that more than 2,500 fields have been reclaimed.
10:11Only half of them are left.
10:14As they go around,
10:16they really caught the eye
10:22of the big cows in Laot.
10:26They are the ones who are reclaiming.
10:28Those are the two.
10:29What did they say to you?
10:30Why are you reclaiming?
10:31They said that they will clean the sea
10:33because it's dirty.
10:34How do you feel when you see the cows here in Laot?
10:38It's really painful
10:39that they are stealing our livelihood.
10:41Just like now,
10:42we don't know where we are going.
10:45In the past,
10:46Tatay Budoy had 370 cattle.
10:52Now, only 50 are left.
10:54How is your livelihood now, Tatay?
10:56Just like now,
10:57we don't have anything.
10:58We don't have anything left.
11:01How are you now?
11:02What are your plans?
11:03We don't have any income.
11:05We only depend on other people who live here.
11:11Sometimes,
11:12we can earn P400 or P500.
11:14It's just a small income.
11:16That's why Tatay Budoy
11:17is now relying on his wife's small sari-sari store.
11:22Suddenly,
11:23it's like a garbage.
11:26It's really painful
11:28because my children lived there.
11:32It's only the 1970s.
11:34It's a time to live
11:37and it's expected by the voters.
11:39The water from Manila Bay
11:41that flows through the length of the city
11:44has the right amount of salt or salinity
11:47that is good for the growth
11:50of a good type of fish.
11:52Maybe because of the level of pollution,
11:55like agricultural runoff,
11:57sewage,
11:58these nutrients are good for the fish
12:01that are fed by the fish.
12:03That's why the fish are thriving
12:05in polluted waters like Manila Bay.
12:09But the industry that has lived for half a century
12:14is now becoming polluted.
12:17In 2018,
12:19the PRA or the Philippine Reclamation Authority
12:24approved the NCBRP
12:26or the Navotas Coastal Bay Reclamation Project.
12:30More than 3,000 socialized housing
12:34or homes,
12:36parks,
12:38commercial establishments,
12:40tricycle and pedicab terminals,
12:43as well as organized vendor areas
12:46or families.
12:48This is what the residents are thinking
12:51about why the demolition of their homes
12:54is happening now.
12:58But just last year,
13:00President Bongbong Marcos Jr.
13:03stopped all the reclamation projects in Manila Bay
13:06including the NCBRP.
13:09The DENR or the Department of Environment
13:12and Natural Resources
13:14conducted a so-called cumulative impact assessment
13:18in Navotas
13:19to study the long-term effects
13:23of reclamation in the area.
13:27Ramdam,
13:28the big projects that are happening now,
13:33on my left,
13:34towards Bulacan,
13:36there is the new airport.
13:39On my right,
13:41towards Mall of Asia and Pasay,
13:44there is the extensive reclamation project.
13:47Aside from the previous government reclamation projects,
13:51through these projects,
13:54the residents are complaining
13:57about the demolition of their homes.
14:02Do they feel like they will be affected
14:05by these projects
14:07due to the demolition?
14:09One of the reclamation projects
14:12is the 60-year-old project
14:15that was built and built by Cheryl.
14:18How much are you building, Cheryl?
14:20This building is 47,000.
14:23If the building is 47,000,
14:25how much will you earn?
14:27I earned 126,000.
14:29That's for the whole 6 years.
14:31So it's more than doubling.
14:33Yes, yes.
14:34But because of the demolition,
14:37they are earning almost nothing.
14:40To tell you the truth,
14:42we haven't eaten for two days.
14:52One day,
14:53we didn't eat.
14:55We only ate for a year.
14:58In 2022,
14:59the Local Government Unit voted
15:03for the residents
15:05who will be affected by the project or the reclamation.
15:08The purpose is to pay
15:11the residents who will be affected.
15:14The people in City Hall said
15:16to go home
15:17because you won't be affected.
15:20According to the initial data,
15:23only the neighboring barangays,
15:25Barangay Tanza 1 and Tanza 2,
15:27will be affected by the NCBRP.
15:30Of course, I will be affected
15:32because I'm not a resident.
15:33But they were very surprised
15:35that this February,
15:37there was a notice
15:38that the demolition of Tahungan will be halved.
15:41So I was alarmed
15:44when we met.
15:47We need to postpone that
15:49because that's what the Supreme Court ordered me to do.
15:52The Manila Bay needs to be cleaned.
15:54Cheryl is talking about
15:56the 2008 Supreme Court writ of mandamus
15:59that said the Manila Bay needs to be cleaned
16:02so that it can be used as a swimming pool
16:05and a leisure area.
16:08These are the reasons
16:10why the NCBRP or the reclamation project was postponed.
16:15I think there's a project.
16:17The whole area is empty.
16:18That's why we're being asked to leave.
16:20It's very painful for us
16:22because it's a big project
16:25but it was just removed like that.
16:30How big is the Tahungan that was destroyed?
16:33It's already big.
16:34You can see the Tahungan from here to there.
16:38When we moved here,
16:40what's left are the ones on the side.
16:43It's not a lot of money.
16:47We've been in dialogue several times
16:50but we didn't get a good answer for us.
16:54It's hard for us.
16:55It's making it harder for us.
16:58Then they told us
17:00in our last dialogue on the 26th
17:02to accept it even if it's painful.
17:05They said it's trash.
17:06It's not trash.
17:07That's where we live.
17:10That's where we eat.
17:13Cheryl is even saddened
17:15because it's illegal to consider their Tahungan
17:19as compensation or damages that can be accepted.
17:24It's not like their neighbor Dodie
17:27who in 2022
17:29when she found out that her Tahungan
17:31was included in the project's expenses,
17:34she immediately agreed
17:36and received a compensation of 3 million pesos.
17:41I didn't have anything to do
17:42so I just accepted a small amount.
17:43The compensation that Dodie received
17:46was used to start a new Tahungan in Bulacan.
17:50It's not enough to give me that amount of money.
17:53First of all, we can't catch them.
17:55There's no way for the fish to swim
17:57so we're all tied up.
17:58We tried to get a statement
18:01from the local government unit of Navotas
18:03about the demolition of the Tahungan
18:05that was being protested by the fishermen
18:08but they didn't go ahead.
18:10Instead, they gave a statement.
18:13We made several dialogues
18:16to talk to the owners of the Tahungan
18:20and explain the laws that we're following
18:23regarding the maintenance of Manila Bay.
18:26In 2022, we didn't receive
18:29any business permit application
18:31before or after the renewal.
18:33In other words, starting in 2022,
18:35all the Tahungan and Paklad in Manila Bay
18:39that were included in Navotas
18:40are now illegal and running without a permit.
18:43In 2022, there were also a series of dialogues
18:47with the affected owners
18:49because of their concerns
18:51and as a consideration of the hardship
18:53they went through because of the pandemic.
18:56We gave them a chance to settle
18:59and after that, they will voluntarily
19:01remove the so-called structures.
19:04They said that they inherited
19:06an alternative income
19:08from the affected residents.
19:10As part of our programs,
19:13we will provide free Navobanka,
19:15entrance to Tupad,
19:17free test and skills training,
19:19employment assistance or livelihood grant,
19:21and job referrals to companies.
19:23In total, the operation of the Paklad and Tahungan
19:26has been illegal for three years.
19:28We gave the owners all the opportunities
19:31to get their employment back
19:33and because there was no tax paid,
19:36they earned a lot from this
19:38over time.
19:40But instead of decreasing,
19:42the number of Paklad and Tahungan increased.
19:45We have a permit until 2022.
19:47We will renew it.
19:48They said that the bank is no longer renewing.
19:51When it is said that it is illegal,
19:52there will be a demolition of their Tahungan.
19:55That is a valid exercise of the LGU.
20:00Our state has an obligation
20:03to take care of their employees.
20:05They really have the right
20:07to get the legal assistance for them.
20:11If they have concerns about the reclamation project,
20:14they can write us as a regulator.
20:16We will verify it on the ground and at the LGU.
20:19We, being the regulator of reclamation projects,
20:22if there is a violation,
20:23we can issue them a cease and desist order,
20:26notice of violation,
20:28and eventually, we can suspend their activity.
20:31The Tahong are considered as filter feeders
20:34because they actually filter out the pollution.
20:37They have this ability to improve the water quality.
20:40In order to solve this problem,
20:42it is better to regulate the number of structures
20:45instead of totally demolishing all of the Tahungan there.
20:49The reclamation project has an irreversible impact.
20:51First, the fisheries,
20:54and there are various marine ecosystems
20:56that have severe dredging.
20:58Even if the remaining corral frontier of Manila Bay is destroyed,
21:02since 2021,
21:03when the dredging and reclamation started in Manila Bay,
21:06around 80% to 90% of the total production
21:09of our fisheries was lost in Manila Bay.
21:11We call for the cessation of the reclamation
21:14and other projects in our coastal areas
21:17so that we can ensure the food supply
21:19and sustainable supply of the Filipino people.
21:22I hope that the demolition will be stopped first.
21:25Let the Tahong continue
21:27so that the industry of the Tahong will continue.
21:29If we are lost in the sea,
21:30we will not be left behind.
21:32If we are removed from the water, we will die.
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