Bangus processing boosts Samar village
CATBALOGAN CITY, Samar – Processing plants for bangus are making the womenfolk in Basey town busy.
The plants are found in the villages of San Antonio, Barangay Tinaogan and Barangay Cambayan.
The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), Kabuhayan program, built the plants after Typhoon Yolanda destroyed the villagers’ fishing equipment, Neil Moraleta from DOLE said.
Initial capital for the bangus processing project was funded by DOLE in 2014.
Another 1700,000 for the plants’ stainless equipment was released middle of last year, Moraleta said.
With assistance from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) the processing plant in San Antonio was built.
Moraleta said DOLE was not involved in setting up the plants in Tinaogan and Cambayan, although they were registered by DOLE as workers association like the group in San Antonio.
Like any livelihood venture, Basey women and fisherfolk face challenges.
One is the availability of raw materials. Most of the time the fish cages in Basey do not have a full catch.
The water in the Basey plant also is not up to sanitary standards.
Still, the village is not giving up on the project.
Meilou Macabare of the Department of Trade and Industry’s Samar office said the Basey women have been contracted to process fish by a leading retail store of processed products in the cities of Tacloban and Catbalogan.
The plant in San Antonio produces marinated, boneless, and softboned bangus, tinapa, and ampalaya pickles. (PIA)