CITY OF SAN FERNANDO - Fourth District Board Member Nestor Tolentino blamed indiscriminate fishing and dumping of wastes for the tons of dead fish seen floating along Pampanga River even as he gained the nod of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan for the creation of an investigative body to probe on the matter.
The investigative body is set to meet this Monday together with the local officials of Masantol town, Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) and some local fishermen to look into the “gruesome fish kill in the rivers and waters in the said town”.
In his privileged speech during the province’s august body’s session, Tolentino, who chairs the provincial board’s committee on environment and natural resources, said that “we saw the evidence of this unscrupulous act and so we shall look for the culprits”.
Tolentino recalled that together with Governor Lilia G. Pineda and other officials of the provincial government, he personally witnessed the tons of various species of dead fish floating along the left bank portion of the Pampanga Delta while enroute to a medical mission to two coastal barangays of Masantol last April 30.
Alarmed by the situation, the governor instructed Tolentino to immediately investigate the matter and at the same time expressed her dismay on the apparent lack of action on the part of the local government unit officials.
“Upon seeing the same, I immediately inquired from the local folks, nung nukarin la menibatan reng mesabing asan at sinabi ra kanaku atin kanung maragul a fishing vessel, retang awsan dang sudsud, a manugse kareng asan uling kulang la pu kanu dagul para kwanan da la at pakinabangan,” the board member said.
On further inquiry, he learned that the fishing boats were allegedly from the nearby provinces of Bulacan and Bataan that do fishing in our water territories and dump dead fish.
He lamented that “while we are exerting our best efforts to clean up Pampanga, atin pung aliwang probinsiyang manugse namang basura at mabubulok a asan kareng kekatamung kailugan”.
Tolentino also gathered from some sources that the fish kill could also be due to pollution, toxic waste and indiscriminate fishing using dynamite, cyanide and other forms of illegal fishing.
“If the initial reports are right, we should look into the matter and act immediately as the fish kill situation in Masantol town is a very sensitive issue on environmental protection.”
Tolentino also enjoined the support of his colleagues and all other sectors concerned towards the resolution of this matter. (Joel P. Mapiles)
The investigative body is set to meet this Monday together with the local officials of Masantol town, Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) and some local fishermen to look into the “gruesome fish kill in the rivers and waters in the said town”.
In his privileged speech during the province’s august body’s session, Tolentino, who chairs the provincial board’s committee on environment and natural resources, said that “we saw the evidence of this unscrupulous act and so we shall look for the culprits”.
Tolentino recalled that together with Governor Lilia G. Pineda and other officials of the provincial government, he personally witnessed the tons of various species of dead fish floating along the left bank portion of the Pampanga Delta while enroute to a medical mission to two coastal barangays of Masantol last April 30.
Alarmed by the situation, the governor instructed Tolentino to immediately investigate the matter and at the same time expressed her dismay on the apparent lack of action on the part of the local government unit officials.
“Upon seeing the same, I immediately inquired from the local folks, nung nukarin la menibatan reng mesabing asan at sinabi ra kanaku atin kanung maragul a fishing vessel, retang awsan dang sudsud, a manugse kareng asan uling kulang la pu kanu dagul para kwanan da la at pakinabangan,” the board member said.
On further inquiry, he learned that the fishing boats were allegedly from the nearby provinces of Bulacan and Bataan that do fishing in our water territories and dump dead fish.
He lamented that “while we are exerting our best efforts to clean up Pampanga, atin pung aliwang probinsiyang manugse namang basura at mabubulok a asan kareng kekatamung kailugan”.
Tolentino also gathered from some sources that the fish kill could also be due to pollution, toxic waste and indiscriminate fishing using dynamite, cyanide and other forms of illegal fishing.
“If the initial reports are right, we should look into the matter and act immediately as the fish kill situation in Masantol town is a very sensitive issue on environmental protection.”
Tolentino also enjoined the support of his colleagues and all other sectors concerned towards the resolution of this matter. (Joel P. Mapiles)