Gov’t campaign vs. illegal fishing now on ‘high gear’
By Eli C. Dalumpines

CEBU CITY, May 3 (PIA) --- The government’s campaign against illegal fishing is now on “high gear,” an official of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) - 7 informed recently.

BFAR-7 Assistant Regional Director Allan Poquita, in an interview, said Bantay Dagat Task Forces in the region are now equipped with state-of-the-art equipment that would aid them in patrolling the coastal waters of their own localities to drive away illegal fishers.

“The various Bantay Dagat Forces in Central Visayas have intensified their own campaign against illegal fishing,” Poquita bared.

Poquita revealed that each Bantay Dagat Task Force in the different towns in the region now possessed global positioning satellites (GPS) which can help them accomplish more effective arrests.

Task force members and local fish warden groups earlier aired complaints that commercial fishers engaged in poaching within the 15-kilometer area from the shorelines that are classified as municipal waters can easily get away by claiming that they are fishing outside the specified area and thus avoiding arrest.

According to the fishery bureau official, he understood well the plight of those who are enforcing the fishery laws because under the old system, where one has to rely with his own eyes to come up with an estimate of the distance from the location of the suspected illegal fishers to the shorelines, the distance ca be a contentious issue.

But with the GPS and other modern equipment, law enforcers can now support their claim with certainty, Poquita asserted.

He further informed that BFAR is likewise set to distribute seven patrol boats equipped withoutboard engines that can reach a maximum speed of 20 knots to selected task forces in the region.

The equipment, he said, will greatly help the government’s campaign against illegal fishing in the region.

In recent years however, illegal fishing activities in its most destructive forms such as dynamite fishing and the use of cyanide have been greatly minimized, according to Poquita.

Poquita said such forms of illegal fishing are now confined in the remote areas in the region.

What concerned the law enforcers now are the illegal poachers who are fishing within the specified municipal waters, this is said. (FCR/ECD/PIA 7-Cebu)

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Over 400 Sogod residents to receive PhilHealth cards

 SOGOD, Cebu May 4 (PIA) --- More than 400 PhilHealth identification cards will be distributed to sponsored members in Sogod, Cebu this Friday, May 6 at the Sogod Covered Gym.

The local government of Sogod, through the leadership of its mayor Lissa Marie Durano, recently enrolled 439 poor constituents as principal members under PhilHealth’s Sponsored Program.

The health insurance is good for 2011 and covers qualified dependents that include unmarried and not gainfully employed children below 21 years old, legal spouse and parents 60 years old or older who are not PhilHealth members, and even children 21 years old or older who are suffering from an acquired or congenital illness which renders them completely dependent on the parent-member for support.

Mayor Durano expressed interest in enrolling more poor families under the program in the coming years.

The mayor is keen on investing in the improvement of Sogod rural health unit (RHU), which is presently accredited by PhilHealth as service provider of its outpatient primary consultation and diagnostic package exclusively for sponsored members.

The outpatient package includes primary consultation services, chest X-ray, urinalysis, fecalysis, sputum microscopy, complete blood count, visual acetic acid screening for cervical cancer, breast exam, blood pressure monitoring, annual rectal exam, body measurement, and counseling for smoking cessation and lifestyle modification.

Durano also hopes to expand the capability of Sogod Rural Health Unit (RHU) to include services as lying-in clinic.

In which case, members undergoing normal spontaneous deliveries in the RHU will soon enjoy PhilHealth’s maternity care package amounting to P6,500.

As such, the RHU is guaranteed reimbursement of at least P5,000 for delivery and postpartum care, and the member is entitled to P1,500 worth of prenatal care services.(PIA-7/Hazel F. Gloria & Karisma Agraviador, PhilHealth-PRO)