ILOILO CITY, July 10 (PNA) –- Sen. Cynthia A. Villar was elated to find a module at the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center (SEAFDEC) in Iloilo province that could be used to teach fishermen and interested individuals to delve into aquaculture.
Villar, who was keynote speaker of the 42nd Foundation Day Program of SEAFDEC Aquaculture Department in Tigbauan, Iloilo province, said that she had been going around the country asking the private sector for a teaching module and happy to find it finally at SEAFDEC.
She said that she intends to bring the module to the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) for accreditation. Teaching aquaculture will be part of the course menu offered by TESDA when accredited.
The lady senator said the Philippines has around 1.5 million fishermen that she wants to be empowered especially in doing aquaculture in municipal waters.
Aside from the module developed by SEAFDEC, the institution will also be tapped to handle the training of trainors.
Villar said that Republic Act 10654, which amended the Philippine Fisheries Code, allocated funds for the TESDA training on aquaculture for 45,000 scholars around the country at P12,000 each.
The budget supposedly for the program in 2014 was P225 million and P500 million this year.
Villar said the program can be best accessed and taught to fishermen if there is a tie up with all the 454 campuses of State Universities and Colleges (SUCs) in the country.(PNA)