Philippine Bureau of Fisheries inaction

[clarionreef]

Newsflash...
BFARs director Malcolm Sarmiento has farmed out his tropical fish policy work to long time trusted aide...and office mate...Lino Alvarez.
[ Yes...you read it right]
Lino is the country co-ordinator for MAC..[.how bout that Horge?]

So, when Jaime mentioned in another thread:
"The lack of willingness and commitment of the Filipino government to regulate the exploitation of the natural ressources within its territory "...
are you referring to the BFAR that MACs Lino controls ?

MAC has BFAR in the pocket on tropical fish trade policy via its very own puppeteer.
Or perhaps its very own 'RASPUTIN'...if you will.

He is simply rendering his countrys interest unto MACs agenda for an American level salary...which is the going rate for such things apparently.
I hope this sheds some light on the reason why there is no serious reform in the Philippine tropical fish trade after all these years.
The exporters assoc and especially its president have Lino on the speed dial every day. They have routine access and they keep things from ever getting out of hand. They have nothing to fear from MAC or BFAR and Lino keeps it that way.
You think any Filipinos know this little secret?
I know of just 2 that do...two.

Steve
So here we are 5 years later. Yes, the NEWSFLASH is 5 years old.
Thats 5 years of BFAR inaction on industry reform and this is why.

 

[PeterIMA]

I must agree with Steve, Aquilino (Lino) Alvarez the MAC's Philippines country coordinator is a good friend of the director of BFAR Malcolm Sarmiento. From my own conversations with the BFAR Director, I can confirm that Sarmiento defers policy concerning the aquarium trade to Mr. Alvarez.

Before Mr. Alvarez worked for the MAC he worked for IMA. Before that he worked with Malcolm Sarmiento (while Malcolm was the head of the Philippine Fish Development Authority). So, they go back a long way.

In his present position with the MAC, Lino Alvarez has the power to either "do things right" or mismanage the aquarium fishery to the detriment of both his country and the aquarium trade.

Peter Rubec

 

[Jaime Baquero]

Is because of this that I'm questioning the degree of responsibility of the Filipino "CENTRAL" government regarding its failure to protect the coral reefs within its territory.

The Filipino CENTRAL government has been dependent on the work of NGOs since day one when this environmental problem was identified. The Filipino central government has been weak to regulate this trade (fisheries), as has been weak to enforce an effective national legislation banning the export of cyanide-caught aquarium fish.

The Fisheries Administration Order (FAO) regulates only the cyanide use for collection of ornamentals. I do not know if this is still a draft or it has been adopted. I guess this depends on the reliability of the CDT being used. If the CDT is not reliable the order is not effective. Cyanide regulation is the step number one to be taken.

The FAO must include handling and holding of collected ornamentals to avoid unnecessary mortality, responsible to some degree of overexploitation of many species.

The filipino government has neglected this fishery with very negative consequences for the coral reefs.

After more than 20 years we can see that the Filipino central government is not interested in dealing directly with this problem...it has relied on NGOs to do its job. NGOs by themselves CAN not solve the problem, the interest, commitment and willingness of the central government and the industry are necessary components to tackle the problem.

The marine aquarium industry has not done its part neither. It has also relied on NGOs to fix the problem. The industry has also failed and is as responsible as is the filipino government .

Regulation and market-driven programs are essential to end the status quo in the Philippines, without those two factors nothing is going to be feasible.

Time is running out for everyone.

 

[clarionreef]

The Central Government is BFAR
BFAR has offices in every port in the nation
No new laws are needed as the crime in questions already illegal...everywhere.


The responsibility for the implementation of fishery policy resides w/ BFAR
DIRECTOR SARMIENTO IS THE CHIEF...
AND LINO ALVAREZ, HIS RIGH HAND MAN IS THE COUNTRY CO-ORDINATOR OF MAC.

So, where are the 'concerns' of MAC and other good environmentalists not represented?
PIN POINTING whos in charge and asleep at the wheel is far more useful to this forum then platitudes about a "central govt....the industry and more regulation.....".
TARGETING the weak links help ZERO IN on the crux of the issue is essential to developing better strategies.

Nebulous, intangible, general notions that lead no where are not useful.

We know where the cancer is and the emasculation of BFAR by foreign groups on this trade that leave it ineffective are a betrayal of Filipino interests.

Lulled by the general principles of "sustainability, MPA promotion, technology transfer, management plans, win-win, multi-stakeholder consultation blah-blah-blather....
the details are overlooked.
The mission watered down...
The implementation...missed.....
the action orientation ignored...
the responsibility dissapated....
and the better result abandoned.

Foreigners and their 'Western concept inspired" NGOs are incredibly lacking in the talent and the expertise to game this thing well in rural villages and they are equally inept at building local teams of nationals who can be effective, opting instead for the virtues of sip-sip loyalty [ ie. kiss butt ] to their own white, narrow asses.
Selecting local city people of lap dog fealty to their business plan in preference over talented, effective locals has been the hallmark of many NGOs milking cows abroad.

The resignations and alienation of the most talented locals thru the years is certainly evidence of this....in Jakarta, BALI as well as the Philippines.
Losing the locals while mis-informing the Westerners back home of their 'progress' is and old game. But, so long as far flung foreign funders accept falsified field reports, progress reports and cash them up again, the local groups remain ill funded and marginalized.
To compete, a local group needs more allegience to foreign funding directives then local priorities....and so, to compete and survive, he sip-sips and gradually abandons the original concerns that foreigners are less interested in....or only 'intellectually' interested in.
Steve
PS.
Did I miss anything Horge?

 

[Jaime Baquero]

The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) is a legal division of the Department of Agriculture , fisheries sector program, of the Republic of the Philippines. I guess there is a superior level in the government evaluating the performance of their employes, someone has to make sure that BFAR is doing its work. Is there a more serious problem than cyanide fishing within the filipino government?

What about the reaction of the Filipino scientific community? Why are they silent regarding this problem? Are they questioning government policies regarding this trade?

You did miss something, you didn't mention the role that the marine aquarium industry, overseas, must play in all this.

 

[clarionreef]

The trade overseas ie, is led by your friend Lolita Ty and her private trade association.
It was led by her husband during the 80's and its been hers ever since.
Theres no fire in the group except when in trouble....
They bend in the wind, shine MAC and BFAR on and continue unabated.
Steve

 

[bookfish]

Steve, can you offer up a specific next step in a plan of action to deal with this problem?
Perhaps even the first 3 action items that can realistically be accomplished?
Thx-Jim

 

[Anonymous]

iMO, the personal jabs do nothing to help arguments regarding such important issues. In fact, i think they distract from and trivialize the points being made.

 

[Jaime Baquero]

Righty,

This is the main reason why nothing has been accomplished in this forum.

 

[clarionreef]

Bookfish,
This is indeed a routine question, issue and answer forum.
We have actually gone thru a great deal many times.
Any reading of author posts will give you days of information.

But this is indeed a discussion forum in a website where easily 99% of the hobbyists will never venture.
If you want 1,000 hits a day, just post "Free blue zoanthid frags"....and you will see intense participation.
The dozen or so folks that give this section a look may be easily confused to find things not so black and white or easy to understand.
Its also true that the less involved you are in an issue the more lightly you take the passions that may have driven it.
There are polar opposites asked to get along in polite discussion, there are old rivals advised to get on the same page and there are people guilty as hell in the complicity of scams and frauds that surprisingly do not see "eye to eye?"


There is discussion revealed in these achives that have shown and prescribed the way many times and yet every few months the cycle begins anew. However, the surest way to derail such discussion of importance is to have it devalued next to some little tiff that the posters have.
If the primary directive is just to get along....then never say anything of consequence, never take a risk and never show any courage of conviction.
Sabatoging dialogue with a snide remark only works if the remark is considered greater then the substance of the issue by the crowd.

Look, you might as well ask Nazis and Jew to work things out...peaceably.
They have had concerns a thousand times greater then their personal dramas and can be forgiven for not wanting to break bread with the enemy.
Surprise....we do have fissures deeper then the call for civility during recess. There really was millions spent to no avail. The reefs really are getting clobbered needlessly as wannabe reformers play the flute.
There really is an anti-fisherman bias that has ruined a dozen projects and there really is disagreement over it all....among fellow travelers.
There really is a 'recreational' take on all this that makes some ruin a thread just because its so easy to do.
No matter who starts the drift away from the issue, one thing is sure, the moderators often blame and hold everyone accountable.
Its trendy now to believe in nothing but shallow civility and to ridicule true believers. True believers in the good fight make the non believers uncomfortable and that is understandable.

Clearly, the best way to get along with everyone, is to believe in nothing but personal gain and stay cool. You know, like a salesman.
The keeping your eye on the bottom line as "nothing ever really matters beyond that" is universally accepted. Why else do you think there are so few importers that chime in here?
Comon, why is that?

For things more a matter of life and death, decorum is admittedly harder to maintain....especially when openly slandered by peole allowed to.
Steve

 

[Anonymous]

Righty,

This is the main reason why nothing has been accomplished in this forum.

You betcha.
what i am unclear about, and please don't take this the wrong way, is if you understand that, why you do it too.

 

[Anonymous]

Steve, there is nothing wrong with you message, the problem is the delivery.

 

[clarionreef]

Posted: 01 Jun 2005 22:23 Post subject: You tell em Jaime

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

JAIME WROTE;
"What is the degree of responsability of the Filipino government for failing to protect the coral reefs, habitat of marine ornamentals exported?. What about the filipino people? Are you going to keep allowing destruction of coral reefs to satisfy the demand of marine ornamentals by aquarium hobbyists? What is the value that you filipino people give to coral reefs? Why you do not create a movement to stop this non sense?"

WOW!
I APPLAUD YOUR CANDOR JAIME AND YOUR BOLD INFERENCES OF MALFEASENCE, IRRESPONSIBILITY, DE-FACTO TREASON AND SELLING OUT THE INTERESTS OF THE POOR FISHERMAN by an asleep at the wheel fisheries sector!

If an inside man and ally of this kind of chicanery is not the veritable Rasputin....how kindly would you characterize his sell out? I thought that to the guilty...your words were rather harsh....and I'm proud of you!
Steve






In Philippines, the produce of clam culture and coral culture is held hostage to validating BY MAC.
Their own country co-ordinator has kept it from happening all this time and will save it for the time when it will serve MACs agenda.
It will be a reward for exporters who play ball with MAC...AND A PUNISHMENT FOR THOSE WHO DON'T.

AS HAS BEEN PARROTED BY THEM TO MANY PEOPLE;
" NETCAUGHT FISH MEAN NOTHING WITH OUT OUR CERTIFICATION..."
AND CLAM AND CORALS AS WELL.
ITS NOT ABOUT SUSTAINABLE FISHERIES...ITS ABOUT SUSTAINING NO GO's..
STEVE

 

[PeterIMA]

Steve and Jaime are on the right track, but they have not identified the key problem. The problem is that BFAR has very limited legal powers. For example, it lacks a law enforcement arm in the organization. Hence, there is no one within BFAR actively making arrests and prosecuting cases through the court system. The court system (national, provincial) is also largely inneffective. The courts respond to political pressure, bribes etc. Hence, it is very difficult to get convictions in cases involving destructive fishing (e.g., cyanide fishing). The penalities also do not help. They are too severe. Hence, there is a reluctance to try cases concerning destructive fishing and to obtain convictions. This generally means the only ones convicted are poor collectors and small scale fishermen, while the cyanide distributors and exporters (who also could be prosecuted) generally are not prosecuted and never convicted.

Peter Rubec

 

[PeterIMA]

With regard to the cyanide testing done by the IMA for BFAR, BFAR did not use the data for prosecution purposes through the court system. Other organizations with legal authority (Philippine constabulary, municipal officials, navy) submitted samples to the IMA/BFAR laboratories. They prosecuted cases through the court system.

 

[Jaime Baquero]

Righty,

This is the main reason why nothing has been accomplished in this forum.

You betcha.
what i am unclear about, and please don't take this the wrong way, is if you understand that, why you do it too.

Why? Because Robinson, and others, have been accusing NGOs of lack of positive results. I do not agree with those accusations. NGOs, did and have been doing a good job helping to find solutions to the cyanide problem in the Philippines, problem that was created by this industry..

The results are not what everyone is expecting, meaning the end of cyanide use. Almost everyone in this forum, and others, are pointing NGOs and putting all the responsibility on the shoulders of those NGOs.

I don't think that is fair. Many honest people have worked as volunteers for those NGOs and contributed with thousands of hours and dollars finding solutions to this difficult and complex cause. Many hundreds of fish collectors were trained to use nets instead of cyanide, fishers communities were organized, environmental education kits were produced, excellent community organizers were "produced" by the different programs developed in the Philippines, the quality of fish has improved... and more.
All the above has been done by NGOs without the $ and "legal"(enforcement) support of the Filipino government or the indutry overseas.

I am one of those honest volunteers that worked for many years helping to tackle the problem. I find Steve Robinson and others have been misleading the readers, putting everyone against NGOs. That is wrong.

The main cause for this to happen is that Robinson is not part of the working team. He should understand that he has good knowledge but he fails to deliver his messages and ideas to others because of his behavior and lack of tact. As I said before, it's a shame.

 

[clarionreef]

Righty,
And to not respond is helpful right?

Afterall, keeping the calm on the playground is the main thing and the purpose of the forum.
You owe me one to leave this one go.
Steve

 

[Jaime Baquero]

Steve and Jaime are on the right track, but they have not identified the key problem. The problem is that BFAR has very limited legal powers. For example, it lacks a law enforcement arm in the organization. Hence, there is no one within BFAR actively making arrests and prosecuting cases through the court system. The court system (national, provincial) is also largely inneffective. The courts respond to political pressure, bribes etc. Hence, it is very difficult to get convictions in cases involving destructive fishing (e.g., cyanide fishing). The penalities also do not help. They are too severe. Hence, there is a reluctance to try cases concerning destructive fishing and to obtain convictions. This generally means the only ones convicted are poor collectors and small scale fishermen, while the cyanide distributors and exporters (who also could be prosecuted) generally are not prosecuted and never convicted.

Peter Rubec

Peter,

I do agree, it is not only BFAR. The judicial system doesn't work or is very weak. I guess that is responsibility of the CENTRAL system in Manila.

 

[clarionreef]

Peter,
BFAR is hopefully emerging from a long era of complicity in destructive fishing industries. Taking bribes to turn the other cheek was so routine up to the 80's that the tradition continued even as the bribes were less available and less offered.

The reason for this is found in the nature of bureacracies in general and the Philippines evolved a real humdinger.

BFAR policy is MAC policy and the non implementation of it leaves the problem adrift with no progress. However, in a cancer patient, no progress and squandering time is a terrible tragedy and thats the case here.
Years go by and the lack of progress by admitted supporters of the NGOs in question is a damning indictment against them!

If foreign egg heads running NGOs lack the tact, diplomacy and the street smarts to connect with fisherfolk culture this translates into BFAR doing the same.
NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS IN HONOLULU OR MANILA, THE POOR FISHERMANS LIFE REMAINS THE SAME.
The better news is from the poor municipal governments, also with small budgets who have led what fight there is is save the reefs off their own territories.
Banning the trade in several places and running off cyanide fishers has been much of the progress to date...and this was done without foreign involvement.
Foreigners bring a lot of their own agenda, greed and ego to this party and for the lack of results, Filipinos can do better on their own.
At least they won't command 100k salaries in the engineering of predictable of failure.

BFARS routine non engagement and letting "Joe do it " strategy makes them more complicit then ever. Its their people and their country.


Ironically, theres little that makes Filipino nationalists more upset then to patronize them from abroad.....and yet theres is little that makes them more upset then to have to go it alone and pay for their own salvation.
Million dollar programs become 100 K programs without foreign salaries larding the budget.
Filipinos need perhaps to kick us all out and determine their own destiny. They have a great deal more talent then foreign NGOs want you to believe. They sure couldn't do any worse.
Steve

 

[Anonymous]

Righty,

This is the main reason why nothing has been accomplished in this forum.

You betcha.
what i am unclear about, and please don't take this the wrong way, is if you understand that, why you do it too.

Why? Because Robinson, and others, have been accusing NGOs of lack of positive results. I do not agree with those accusations. NGOs, did and have been doing a good job helping to find solutions to the cyanide problem in the Philippines, problem that was created by this industry..

The results are not what everyone is expecting, meaning the end of cyanide use. Almost everyone in this forum, and others, are pointing NGOs and putting all the responsibility on the shoulders of those NGOs.

I don't think that is fair. Many honest people have worked as volunteers for those NGOs and contributed with thousands of hours and dollars finding solutions to this difficult and complex cause. Many hundreds of fish collectors were trained to use nets instead of cyanide, fishers communities were organized, environmental education kits were produced, excellent community organizers were "produced" by the different programs developed in the Philippines, the quality of fish has improved... and more.
All the above has been done by NGOs without the $ and "legal"(enforcement) support of the Filipino government or the indutry overseas.

I am one of those honest volunteers that worked for many years helping to tackle the problem. I find Steve Robinson and others have been misleading the readers, putting everyone against NGOs. That is wrong.

The main cause for this to happen is that Robinson is not part of the working team. He should understand that he has good knowledge but he fails to deliver his messages and ideas to others because of his behavior and lack of tact. As I said before, it's a shame.

:roll: :roll:

Now if thats not a personal attack, Jim and Rich, I don't know what is. Yet again, RDO just lets it slip on by, business as usual :roll: You can have your forum, if this rubbish is all we're going to get.

You know when a little dog keeps yelping around your feet and after so long you can't take it anymore so you tell it to shut up. When it doesn't do that, you punish it. When it starts up again and again, you finally get frustrated and give the dog a swat? Well, you can't expect Steve not to scold jamie for yelping around his feet


Problem is, nothing happens when, even AFTER you post a warning about personal attacks, jamie quotes that very warning post and proceeds on a personal attack in it :roll:[/b]