Imported fish sale in markets probed
THE Office of the Ombudsman has directed an investigation into the alleged failure of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) to implement a 20-year-old administrative order prohibiting the sale of imported fish in wet markets and supermarkets.
Ombudsman Samuel Martires issued the directive after BFAR announced a crackdown starting on December 4 against vendors who would be found selling imported fish like pampano and pink salmon in violation of the Fisheries Administrative Order (FAO) 19U.
FAO 19U, which was issued in 1999, only allows big companies, hotels and restaurants to sell imported fish so that local fishermen can sell their catch in the markets.
In his order dated Nov. 2U, 2022, Martires said the investigation shall include the supposed “anomalies that attended and /or resulted because of this recent implementation by the BFAR of AO No. 19U, as amended.”
He also directed concerned officials of BFAR to submit a sworn statement about the controversy within “three calendar days” from receipt of the order.
Martires gave investigators 10 days to submit their report and recommendations.
Crackdown defended
Meanwhile, Nazario Briguera, chief of the BFAR Information and Fisherfolk Coordinating Unit, maintained that the agency only intensified its campaign “based on our feedback last month [that] imported
fish products flooded the wet markets.”
“It is not only now we are conducting the campaign. In fact, we are using Administrative Order 195 in issuing permits to importers,” Briguera said in a radio interview on Saturday.
Briguera said that importers were involved in the illegal diversion of frozen fish products and called on the government to “intervene” and “regulate this.”
At the same time, Briguera reiterated that an amendment to FAO 195 was necessary amid criticisms that it was anti-poor.
He said that “unless the law is amended, we have [a] responsibility to implement the law.”
Zaldy Perez, BFAR assistant director for Administrative and Other Support Services, said the information drive of BFAR in 21 wet markets in Metro Manila is ongoing and will continue until Dec. 3, 2022.
Perez said aside from confiscation, vendors and the source of the imported fish could face administrative and criminal charges.
Perez said that vendors should be able to present import permits for round scad, bigeye scad, mackerel, bonito and moonfish to prove that these were part of the 25,000 metric tons of imported fish allowed by the Department of Agriculture (DA).
Agriculture Senior Undersecretary Domingo Panganiban issued Special Order 1002 allowing 25,000 metric tons of frozen round scad, bigeye scad, mackerel, bonito and moonfish amid the implementation of the closed fishing season from Nov. 1, 2022, to Jan. 31, 2023.
Perez added that confiscated fish will be donated to charitable institutions.
Confiscated pesticides
In another development, the Department of Agriculture-Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority (DAFPA) banned the use of five substandard local fertilizers in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) because “based on the results of the laboratory tests, these have very low nutrient content” and urged the public to “refrain from patronizing these products and report its proliferation.”
Among those covered by the ban were Turbo Prime, Turbo Multi, Xian Bee, Takada Triple 14, and Vio-Crop.
FPA CAR Regional Officer Rogelio Tanguid said he issued a suspension order against local fertilizer manufacturers found non-compliant with the rules and regulations.
Tanguid also ordered the local manufacturers to recall their products in the market.
Tanguid said that six laboratories in Makati City, Mandaluyong City, Pasig City, Dasmariñas Cavite, Cagayan de Oro City, and Polomolok, South Cotabato conducted studies on the banned fertilizer products.