Dauin did it!

This week, some journalists from Dumaguete, Bohol, Cebu and Siquijor gathered for a two-day seminar at the Bethel Guest House to discuss

reproductive health and the environment. The seminar was an offshoot of a project of the Integrated Population and Community Resource Management (IPOPCORM), which, as its name suggests, tackles the problems of the environment with the population factor at the same time.

This project is based on the premise that overpopulation generates a big pressure on our natural resources to a point that there will be too many people to feed on so few resources, such as fish or agricultural produce.

Part of the activities was a field visit to the town of Dauin, where the IPOPCORM has an ongoing program, in coordination with the Municipality of Dauin. There are nine barangays in Dauin which have been chosen as the

sites for this program. These nine barangays are all along the coast, involving families in fishing communities.

It is no coincidence that coastal barangays were targetted as project sites. For some reason, families living along the coastline are usually larger than families who live elsewhere. Fishing communities, averaging six members per household, are among the most impoverished communities in the Philippines, earning an average of P20 per day.

The town utilizes couples and youth who have volunteered to become educators for their peers, primarily on matters of population management.

We talked to some of them and we found out for ourselves that this program is succeeding, as evidenced by the increasing number of family planning adherents. I was particularly impressed with the Youth Peer Educators, most of whom are still in their teens, as they shared their experiences in educating their peers on sex education. These YPEs know that their job isn't easy and oftentimes, they have to face parents and grandparents who are not comfortable with having to deal with sexually-educated kids in their own homes.

And there are the equally dedicated Bantay Dagat volunteers who have to face up to influential people who violate the rules of their fish sanctuary. Their perseverance is paying off. People now know that the Dauin marine sanctuary is something that should be respected because the law is applied to everyone, rich or poor, thanks to the strong and unwavering leadership of their mayor, Rodrigo Alanano, who threw his support behind the fishermen even though he knew they voted for his political opponent.

The story of how the Dauin fishermen decided to come up with their marine sanctuary is a story all of us can learn from. They had heard of the success story of the Apo island marine sanctuary. But they just had too many imagined fears and shortcomings. They also didn't take care of their coral reef because they simply paddled out to the deep to drop their hook and line. They went as far as Apo island to fish.

But one day, they were sent home by the Apo island fishermen, who had become protective of their fishing grounds. This forced them to think of putting up their own marine sanctuary. They didn't get the support they needed from their mayor at that time. So the fishermen went to Gov. George

Arnaiz, who ordered his staff to help the fishermen put up their marine sanctuary. That was ten years ago. Today, the Dauin fishermen are proud storytellers of their experience.

Instead of paddling out to the deep, the fishermen now say all they need to do is to paddle a few meters outside of the marine sanctuary and after three hours, they can go home with a few kilos of fish. This same catch required being out the whole night back in those days before the sanctuary was established.

I went home that day thinking that the experience of the Dauin townsfolk is worth replicating in all the coastal towns and cities of Negros Oriental and even the Philippines. I know that every local government unit knows what should be done to help the people living in their coastal communities. But I also know that many LGUs are not lifting a finger to really do something that would benefit their poor fisherfolk. Sad but true.*

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