Dagupan Bangus: Today’s Boon, Tomorrow’s Bane?
Bangus
(milkfish) has given fame to Dagupan – and income to thousands of families
and vendors. This may all change when a big fish processing plant rises in
the city.
BY AUBREY MAKILAN
Bulatlat
A 17-year old gairl,
Princess Ballesteros (left), is the fastest bangus (milkfish) deboner
in a small processing unit in Dagupan
PHOTO BY AUBREY MAKILAN |
DAGUPAN CITY,
Pangasinan (212 kms north of Manila) ─ No town beats Dagupan, one of the
country’s oldest cities, when it comes to fishing. Bangus
(milkfish) won’t be the Philippines’ national fish if it were not for this
city: Dagupan, a commercial and educational city located in Pangasinan’s
western coast, has the best bangus in this part of the world. And
bangus brought fame to Dagupan after beating Peru with the longest
barbecue title in the Guinness Book of World Records three years back.
Talk of bangus,
however, and you talk of thousands of families here making a living from
this industry. Commercial fishing trade has flourished with families
engaged in the processing of bangus, or deboning. Wonder how many
children are raised and brought to school – and even opulence to a few -
because of this
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The ugly side of it
all, however, is that soon many small processors and vendors who rely on
this trade may find themselves without livelihood if a government plan to
build a giant processing plant for bangus export gets underway.
Foreigners who visit
this city sometimes cannot believe their ears after hearing of a
“boneless” bangus, which simply and more accurately means “deboned.”
To a former overseas Filipino worker, however, it is deboned fish that
somehow brought her some fortune.
After trying other
businesses and failing, Fe Vidal settled for selling deboned bangus.
She struck a gold mine. Back in 1994 and with only P500 ($10), Fe began
deboning 20 pieces of bangus and marinating them in vinegar mixed with
salt, garlic and pepper. She then sold the deboned bangus to close
friends. There was no turning back.
Soon, commuters and
foreign tourists would stop by her store, attracted by a streamer hung
along Dagupan’s highway, and buy her deboned bangus as they drive
out of the city. Calling cards helped boost her business with customers
from as far as the north and even Metro Manila ordering her products.
With simple
marinating, Dagupan’s “boneless” bangus remains a hit. “Masarap
ang bangus na galing sa Dagupan siguro dahil sa quality ng tubig na
fresh water,” Fe says, comparing Dagupan bangus with that in other
provinces which she says tastes bland.
Processing house
Fe, now 45, has her
small bangus processing house, “CBN Bonuan Boneless Bangus” in
Bagong Barrio, Bonuan Gueset. Her products are among the favorites of both
local residents and tourists during the city’s Bangus Festival in April.
She also sells lumpiang bangus, bangus belly, bangus
sisig, and daing.
Among Fe’s workers,
Princess Ballesteros is the fastest deboner. Ballesteros started deboning
the national fish when she was still in Grade 4. She was then earning P50
($1) for working from 5-7 p.m. everyday. Today at 17, Princess can work on
five to seven bangus pieces in a minute.
Up to 35 banyera
(raw fish containers) of bangus are deboned everyday at Fe’s
processing house. With this volume, a worker could earn from P300 to P500
($10) a day. Fe now has 32 workers whose earnings give sustenance to their
families.
Unlike Fe, Alma Vidal
does not have her own processing house or workers to keep her small
business. Every day, Alma, cousin of Fe’s husband, waits for a free supply
of bones removed from bangus fishes processed at Fe’s unit. Using a
spoon, the 46-year old woman patiently removes fish meat crumbs while
sitting on a half-foot wooden chair for about four hours. After doing this
for seven years, she suffers pains in her arms, neck and lower back.
At P40 per kilo, Alma
earns about P200 ($4)daily. This income that supports five children: the
eldest who is a construction worker and four others who are in school.
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Alma Vidal’s family saves
on food by using scrapped fish meat ingeniously to cook lumpia,
torta, or relyenong bangus.
PHOTO BY
AUBREY MAKILAN
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Alma’s family saves
on food by using scrapped fish meat ingeniously to cook lumpia,
torta, or relyenong bangus.
No bangus
leftover goes to waste. When done with scrapping, the fish bones will be
thrown to the fish pens behind their community for feed.
The ‘Big One’
Every year in April,
Dagupan celebrates the Bangus Festival which is highlighted by the
“Kalutan ed Dagupan,” a big barbecue
party. It is also the Guinness Book of World Records’ current title holder
for the longest barbeque when it grilled 24,000 bangus fishes stretching
to 1,007 meter in May 2003. Peru used to
hold the record in 1999 for its 613-meter long barbeque.
With bangus as
a big industry, Dagupan is one of 33 cities in the country involved in the
City Development Strategies (CDS) program in Asia that is supported by the
World Bank. The projects in this city are Flood Control Mitigating
Project, Bangus Processing Plant and construction of a three-storey public
market.
Controversy surfaced
in 2004 with a planned
demolition in Bagong Barrio to give
way to the bangus processing plant.
The issue heated up
when the city government dismantled alleged illegal fish pens,
particularly those within so-called navigational lanes along Calmay and
Pantal rivers. In the absence of resettlement sites, several small
fishermen have rebuilt their fishpens.
Meanwhile, some small
processors fear that they might lose their small businesses once the Big
One takes over.
Alma loathes the day
when that happens. “Baka wala na ‘kong makuhanan ng libreng tinik,”
Alma said, thinking that every part of the bangus in the processing
plant would be used up or for sale even the bones where she gets her
earnings.
Her fear is so simple
yet, “ito ang kabuhayan ko,” she said, while scrapping whatever is
left on the thin bangus bone in her hands. Bulatlat
Note: Peso-dollar
conversion is based on an exchange rate of P50.010 per US dollar.
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