A group of fisherfolk from barangays Banago and Punta-Taytay in Bacolod City staged a protest at the Bacolod Government Center yesterday calling on Mayor Monico Puentevella to look into their concerns.

Members of the Kitahanon Small Fisherfolk Association, and the Barangay Punta-Taytay Marginalized Fisherfolk Marketing, are seeking clarification from the city government as to why the P11 million worth of projects under the Grassroots Participatory Budgeting Process of the government has not yet been released to them, despite them having complied with all the requirements of the Local Poverty Reduction Action Team in 2013 yet.

Joseph Benjamin, chairman of KISFA, said they are legitimate associations accredited with the city. They are questioning the creation of a new association, the Alyansa sg Magagmay nga Mangingisda sa Bacolod, which was hurriedly registered and accredited with the city, and is now being tapped to comply with the 1,500 beneficiaries requirement, he said.

Benjamin said they have existed for about six years and are the real beneficiaries of the project, while the AMBA was created just recently when it was learned that the P8 million fund from the national government had been downloaded to the local government.

The project has a total budget of P11 million annually which already includes the 30 percent counterpart of the city, he said.

Assistant Department Head II Mae Cuaycong of the City Planning and Development Office, said the two fisherfolk groups were disqualified from availing of the agri-fishery project and training program under the GPBP because they failed to liquidate the financial assistance given to them in 2013 amounting to P125,000.

They should liquidate the financial assistance to avail of the program, she said.

“The mayor cannot sign the memorandum between these groups because they have an unliquidated expense that needs to be settled first before they can avail of the program for this year,” Cuaycong said.

The Local Poverty Reduction Action Team headed by Puentevella passed a resolution declaring the program open to other fisherfolk associations that are qualified to meet the 1,500 beneficiaries’ requirements, she said.

The group has a total of 300 members only, Cuaycong said, adding that “LPRAT reorganized the program to be non-inclusive to the original proponents so that more organization can avail of the program.

Benjamin said they have liquidated projects of the government, and have followed all processes required of the program.

He said their associations have participated in the workshop planning in 2013 together with members of the LPRAT.

However, after they had completed the project proposal of P11 million together with the 30 percent counterpart of the city from funds of the national government, this was delayed by certain individuals in the administration of Puentevella and the project was snatched from them, Benjamin said.

Benjamin said they were surprised that a different organization was given authority to choose beneficiaries who will be given the project.

He said they already wrote President Aquino asking him to look into the problem because this project was intended for the poor and marginalized fisherfolk. They are also calling on Puentevella to give the matter attention so this will not set a precedent for other projects of the national government, he added.*CGS

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