Strategy to Sell Bangus at P140 Per Kilo in Bohol

Boholanos suffer from an unresolved clamor—high price of fish. This is not just a seasonal fluctuation of its price; this is permanent in our market. We can compare our fish prices with other provinces and be perplexed why, for instance, bangus is priced at P220 per kilo in Tagbilaran, while it is approximately between P130 to P150 in other provinces.

 
Addressing the unnatural lack of supply

Previous leaders have not resolved our decades-old problem about the unusual prices of fish before him. But now, governor Aris Aumentado wants to address this drowning crisis in a more analytical way.

I know what you are thinking: people have sacrificed their meals because of this. And the governor wants to do something no one ever did.

Before we can conceive any program, here’s the interesting part: from the demand of 50 million kilos of fish per year that Boholanos consume, we have a deficit of 29 million kilos.

 
There are factors affecting this deficit. Many local fishermen sell to Cebu because traders from that place buy in bulk, while Boholano traders buy based on type of fish. As a result, the actual buying of catch actually takes place in the deep seas and not in fish landing areas near the shores.

Local buyers do not know how to keep their supply fresh.
The governor realized the problem needs brilliant inputs from agencies of the government and sectoral representatives.

Task Force Isda

In response to the high prices of fish issue, governor Aumentado issued Executive Order No. 29 creating the Task Force Isda. These compose the task force: Engr. Ricardo Oblena (Chairman), Argeo Melisimo (Vice-chairman), Leon Calipusan (Special Advisor on Economic Enterprise), Joel Elumba (OIC Regional Executive Director of the Department of Agriculture, Region 7), Alan Poquita (Regional Director of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, Region 7), mayor Dave Duallo (President, League of Municipalities of the Philippines-Bohol), and Asec. Salvador Diputado (Assistant Secretary for the Visayas, Department of Agriculture).

Among others, the Task Force Isda performs these functions:

1) gather information on the supply and price of fish; and
2) determine the potential causes of the high cost and recommend courses of action.

Buy-back scheme as intervention

The government of Bohol initially buys back 20 percent of the catch from 17 people’s organizations. Nine fish traders and nine cooperatives will buy the fish through the provincial government’s buy-back program.

While this scheme has not yet taken place, the government has tested the idea through the Isda Program At the Old Airport. According to Salvio Jerome Mandanguit, spokesperson of the Task Force Isda, the Boun Pastore Agricultural Cooperative has supplied the fish at the said location, which first sold last October 5 tamarong and borot-borot at P140 per kilo. Subsequently, the cooperative sold two kinds of catch which were P20 to P40 lower than the prevailing market price. They were either bangus, anduhaw, vanamie, danggit, and kitong. Last October 17 was the fifth time the cooperative sold fish at a lower price. For instance, anduhaw at P180 per kilo lower than the P200-240 in the market. Vanamie was sold at P250 per kilo, lower than the prevailing P300 per kilo market price. The suppliers of this program come from Zamboanga, Talibon, and Dauis.

 
The Task Force Isda has yet to decide whether it will open Fish Tienda twice or thrice a week, or daily.
When the Isda Program at the old airport first took place, it eventually dawned on us that somebody controlled the prices of fish. The province announced in the evening that fish would be sold the following day when it launched the Isda Program. We were surprised the usual vendors in the market lowered their prices before the launching at the old airport.

 
What’s the catch?

From what happened, stakeholders have realized the pilot test of the buy-back—an expanded version of the program at the old airport—is effective. They base this on the subsequent lowering of prices among vendors in Tagbilaran City upon operation. If the necessary facilities come to operate the freezer and ice-maker, the government will move further.

Preparing the freezers

The province will start the buy-back scheme if the power supply for the freezers are ready. It currently explores the possibility of getting away with the tedious bidding process by allowing a private organization to establish the power source through a partnership.

 
Memorandum of agreement and laws to be applied

Now, the MOA has already been refined to establish the provincial government’s buy-back program. We anchored this on the Republic Act (RA) 7581, which protects consumers by stabilizing the price and supply of basic and prime commodities. The RA 8435 as amended by RA 9281 also provides a framework where other government agencies are mandated to support the Department of Agriculture in the implementation of the Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Plan, aiming to improve the productivity of marginal fishermen and reduce prices of prime fish products. Article IV, Section 58 of RA 8550 (Philippine Fisheries Code of 1998 on Comprehensive Post-harvest and Ancillary Industries Plan stresses the pricing system, with emphasis on collective marketing and the elimination of middlemen and increased participation of cooperatives and NGOs.

The parties in the MOA which will establish the buy-back program are the Provincial Government of Bohol, Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Region 7, Land Bank of the Philippines, 17 people’s organizations, and 10 fisherfolks cooperatives.

What to expect?

The governor Aris is almost ready to up-scale the Isda Program the Old Airport, reaching the towns through coordinating centers.

With the power source to operate the freezers, the operation is almost ready. But the provincial government also awaits another enabler — the ordinance from the Sangguniang Panlalawigan to regulate prices.

This is the first time to systematize the solution for Boholanos who yearn to put a rein on a horse running wild, like the fish prices.

Many minds, working as a whole, offer more insights and lead to better outcomes.

Let us wait and see.