A RANKING city official now wants milkfish produced in other areas banned from the markets of Dagupan in order to protect the locally-produced bangus from being downgraded in its quality.

The official expressed the urgent need to put a stop to the practice of traders who bring in milkfish produced at Laguna de Bay and fishponds in Bulacan near the Manila Bay to the Dagupan market.

Vice Mayor Belen Fernandez said the practice must be stopped because the introduction of so-called ‘alien’ bangus in the Dagupan is totally downgrading the quality of the Dagupan bangus that is already noted throughout the country.

The ‘alien’ bangus is sold at P55 per kilo while the Dagupan bangus, which is known for its unrivalled taste, costs P77 per kilo.

It is a wonder why traders still bring bangus from Laguna and Bulacan to Dagupan when in fact the city is already a producer of bangus, Fernandez declared.

Aside from this, milkfish produced in Bolinao, Anda, Alaminos, Sual, Labrador, Lingayen, Binmaley and San Fabian are being shipped daily to the Dagupan market and others to Metro Manila.

Fernandez said that sometimes, traders hoodwink buyers by making it appear that the ‘alien’ bangus they are selling is Dagupan bangus, in complete violation of the fair trade act.

It was learned that the milkfish produced in Laguna de Bay and in fishpond lands in Bulacan tastes like mud (‘maablir’, in the dialect) and is almost unpalatable to the human tongue.