TACLOBAN CITY, (PNA) — Eastern Visayas ranked highest nationwide in terms of the implementation of fisheries registration, according to Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) regional director Juan Albaladejo.
Albaladejo disclosed that since the July launching, some 100,000 fisherfolk have been registered and they look forward to reaching out to more workers in the fishery sector.
Eastern Visayas has 243 coastal towns, the biggest in the country, thus BFAR eyes registering around 200,000, he added.
The registration covers municipal fisherfolk, fish workers, crew of commercial fishing vessels, workers in fishponds, fish vendors and those who are in the aquaculture, among others.
“We are on the right track,” Albaladejo said as he expressed hope that there would be local governments units here that could qualify for the P2 million worth of livelihood projects as incentive for having registered 100 percent of the fisherfolk in their area.
He lauded the interest of local government units in the program even as they are also excited to avail of the incentive.
Registered fisherfolk are entitled to avail of insurance under the Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation (PCIC), likewise enrollment with the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth).
The BFAR executive said that P200 million of its P4.9 billion budget for 2014 will be allotted for the insurance and PhilHealth membership of registered fisherfolk.
Meanwhile, BFAR director, Atty. Asis G. Perez said that the Municipal Fisherfolk Registration Program has been launched nationwide, except for Region 1.
On Monday, he graced the kick off of the program in Western Visayas held alongside the Visayas-wide Media Environmental Conference in Iloilo.
He said that the program is “very promising” as they already have tripled the number of registered fisherfolk from their baseline.
BFAR is looking forward to register some two million in one year. Technically, the registration is yet to kick of this December and will last for one year.