SMORGASBORD
Liway C. Manantan-Yparraguirre
 

THE town of Binmaley will launch on February 2 its own festival called ‘Malaga and Bingalo Festival’ as part of this year’s fiesta celebration.

Mayor Sammy Rosario said the main industries in Binmaley are aquaculture (bingalo or prawn, malaga and bangus), pottery and furniture.

The launching of the Malaga and Bingalo Festival, he said is a prelude to the many undertakings of the local government to develop and improve the production of these tasty marine species, malaga and bingalo.

Municipal Administrator Josefina C. Victorio told this writer the festivities, which start at 5p.m., will begin with a street dancing/ritual to be performed by selected employees.

At 6 p.m., the gates of the auditorium will be opened for the Dinner for a Cause, a fund-raising activity. Expected to be in attendance are top personalities in the province, balikbayans and civic minded people.
           
For P500 (cost of the ticket), one will get to taste bingalo and malaga cooked in different mouthwatering dishes, get on their feet and enjoy the night ballroom dancing or simply be entertained by the band.
           
It will be one big party, Mrs. Victorio said. More than 2,000 tickets was prepared.  Proceeds will be added to the income generated from the Search for Mrs. Binmaley popularity contest.  This will be used for the construction of the Balikbayan Park.
           
According to Mr. Fernando B. Ferrer, municipal agricultural officer, prawns and malaga are very sensitive. They thrive in fresh water, thus, these are being cultured in fishponds near rivers. They can both be fully-cultured, meaning, they can co-exist in one fishpond)
           
Prawn or bingalo is being cultured in 791 hectares of fishpond (involving 438 fishpond operators). Of the 33 barangays here, it is only barangays Papageyan and Baybay-Pulong which do not have prawn culture.
           
Mr. Ferrer said the farm gate price of prawn ranges from P350-480 per kilo but the price shoots up to P600-up per kilo when it reaches the dealers.
           
A harvest of five kilos and up, this goes to the consignacion; 100 kilos of prawn and more, the prawns are transported to Bulacan where the prawn exporters are.
           
As for malaga, there are more or less 120 fishpond operators who are into its culture.  These are located in barangays Caloocan Sur and Norte, Buenlag, Linoc, Salapingao, Caloocan Dupo, Malindong, Lomboy, Biec, Gayaman, Manat and Naguilayan.
           
Price of the fish ranges from P180-P280 per kilo.
           
The local government is aiming to increase production of malaga and bingalo this year. To attain this goal, Ferrer said they are organizing a series of training-seminars on production intensification and aqua-culture with trainors coming from the Pangasinan State University-Binmaley Campus and from the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR)
           
Moreover, by April, the local government will strictly implement the 1997 Local Fishery Ordinance, as amended. This includes the total ban of fishcages and fishpens along the rivers.  The original ordinance, so I learned, only encompasses the regulation of construction of fishpens, fishcages and other fishtraps along the rivers of Binmaley.
           
As explained, the number of fishcage and fishpen operators who will be affected (majority anyway are not from Binmaley) is just a fraction, compared to the number of fishpond operators who will benefit from a clean river. Clean water from the rivers coming into the fishponds means bigger production and better income.
           
What will you do anyway with a municipal revenue derived from the pollution of the rivers. What good will the present gain be if the payback is a dead river.
           
(Happy birthday to Mr. Alex Duque, also now due to retire from a fruitful government employment. Advance happy birthday to my mother, Mrs. Norma Casem Manantan.)