On the 2nd of May, International Tuna Day, the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) swore in Bernard A. Mayo as the Regional Fisherfolk Director of MIMAROPA for the Month of May at the BFAR Regional Office in Calapan, Oriental Mindoro in a milestone moment for fishermen empowerment.
The Regional Fisherfolk Director Program, also known as the Mangingisdang Direktor Program, was established to strengthen the partnership between fisherfolk and the government, as mandated by the Department of Agriculture Special Order No. 88 series of 2005. Regional Fisherfolk Directors are selected from a pool of Provincial Fisherfolk Representatives (PFRs and must first be Chairs of Regional Municipal, City or Integrated Fisheries and Aquatic Resource Management Councils (M/C/IFARMCs) to be eligible. Once elected, the Regional Fisherfolk Director serves as the direct liaison between fishermen and BFAR.
Now on its 15th year, the Mangingisdang Direktor Program welcomes Bernard Mayo into its fold as representative for the fishermen of MIMAROPA. As tuna fisherman based in Mamburao, Occidental Mindoro, Mayo has been a partner of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Philippines’ Sustainable Tuna Partnership (STP) project for the past 8 years. Mayo also holds several official leadership positions – he is the Chair of the MFARMC of Mamburao, Chair of the IFARMC of Mindoro Strait and the PFR of Occidental Mindoro. His experience as a fisherman and a FARMC leader makes him a proper fit for representing others like himself whose livelihoods are tied to local fisheries.
“The fishermen of MIMAROPA are thankful to the BFAR and to those who have helped us because you are the ones who started these programs, who came by and who helped our FARMCs,” said Mayo. “Let us help each other. You, in the Bureau, and you fishermen in the sea. Let’s work together, for clean, abundant, and developed fisheries.”
Mayo also presented the Local Tuna Management Plan for Occidental Mindoro to the BFAR Regional Office of MIMAROPA. WWF-Philippines, together with the respective local authorities and partner agencies, has spent the last three years working on this plan. The organization has been crafting and consulting with the FARMC’s of the province in order to make the plan as comprehensive and responsive of the needs of local fishermen as possible.
“Badness cannot beat true thoughts and a passionate heart. Crime cannot beat service that is true. Above everything, that which is illegal cannot beat that which is legal,” said Mayo. Working as part of the BFAR for the coming month, Mayo will be pushing for the rights and wellbeing of fishermen in the MIMAROPA region, while working with enforcement bodies for the protection and management of local fisheries.
The journey of Mayo from fisherman to Regional Fisherfolk Director is a testament to the empowerment WWF-Philippines’ fishing communities have felt under the Sustainable Tuna Partnership project. With the Local Tuna Management Plan in tow, Mayo is ready to represent the plight of his fellow fishermen on a regional, and even national, level. Proud communities and sustainable fisheries are on the horizon as our fishermen take the reigns over their own development.
