Three (3) conservation incentives were turned-over yesterday, February 18, 2020, in the municipalities of Pola and Pinamalayan as part of Malampaya Foundation Inc.’s (MFI’s) conservation agreement (CA) commitments with the coastal barangays of the province.
A trading post in Misong, Pola run by Samahan ng Mangingisda at Magsasaka ng Barangay Misong (SMMBM) was turned over in the morning together with community leaders, municipal LGU representatives and Provincial Agriculture Office (PAGO). The trading post carries items such as rice, feeds, basic commodities and school supplies.
At midday, the newly-completed fish and meat processing center for Saint John the Baptist Fisherfolk Organization in Putting Cacao was inaugurated with Pola Mayor Joyce Cruz, Vice Mayor Leandro Panganiban Jr., as well as Provincial Agriculturist Christine Pine in attendance. The center was completed with counterpart funds from PAGO and built through masonry training and materials from MFI. Pola Mayor Cruz committed completion of select interiors on the part of the local government.
In the afternoon, the water system improvement project was inaugurated in Banilad, Pinamalayan—a long-awaited utility project in the community which has suffered from water shortages and necessitated residents to travel distances to secure water supplies for their homes for many years.
The three coastal barangays have active conservation agreements with MFI, PAGO and the local governments for the implementation of a marine biodiversity conservation and coastal resource management program to aid the protection and regeneration of marine resources in the communities and legally-established marine protected areas (MPAs). The MPAs of the communities have been recognised among the effectively-managed in Oriental Mindoro in the past five years.
