World-renowned photojournalist visits Camiguin to capture images of women in micro-credit

Photo by Raymundo C. Agaton Jr.

Pep Bonnet, a renowned international photojournalist visited Camiguin last February 8-9, 2012 to capture images of women in Micro Credit in Mantigue island in the municipality of Mahinog.

This was learned from Raymundo C. Agaton Jr. of PRRM Camiguin in a press release sent to Mahinog Trumpet.

Bonnet is from NOOR (an Arabic word meaning “light”), an international photo agency and foundation established in 2007 primarily to create and distribute compelling photojournalistic works with the aim to raise awareness, enhance an understanding of the world and contribute to visual history of mankind.

The NOOR photo agency solicited the help of Philippines Rural Reconstruction Movement (PRRM) for its project “Women in Micro-Credit.”

PRRM is an NGO working in Camiguin for almost two decades now, with a mission to enhance the capacity of rural communities in the planning, advocacy and implementation of sustainable development, through an integrated program of education, livelihood, health, habitat, environment, and self-governance.

According to Agaton, Bonnet chose the island of Mantigue in Mahinog, Camiguin to shoot images of women engaged in seaweeds production.

“The images of women engaging in fishing in Mantigue Island is a very fascinating human interest story for this project,” Mr. Bonnet told Agaton during the visit.

Agaton said Bonnet’s exhibit of images will feature 10 countries including Philippines due for exhibition and possibly into a book by April of this year.

”This will portray microcredit as the most visible innovation in anti-poverty policy where it has been successful in bringing formal financial services to the poor,” Agaton said.

For his part, Mahinog town mayor Alex R. Jajalla said since these images will be seen all over the world, this is a good opportunity to promote Mantigue island as among the alternative ecotourism destination in the region.

Mantigue island, branded as "Restoring Paradise" after local government developed the area as eco tourism destination since 2007, has now become a popular tourist attraction in the province of Camiguin.

Photo by Raymundo C. Agaton Jr.

New Zealand team in Camiguin to assess coastal resource project

New Zealand review team leader Rina Rosales (center) interacts with the members of Mahinog Coastal Law Enforcement Action team (Clean)

MAHINOG, Camiguin - A team from New Zealand Embassy arrived in Camiguin on Saturday to conduct mid-term assessment in the implementation of the five-year integrated coastal resource management project that started in 2007 in 40 coastal villages and five municipalities of the province.

With its rich and diverse coastal resources, Camiguin is one of the few provinces to get P116 million funding from the New Zealand Agency for International Aid (NZAid) to institutionalize its integrated coastal resource management program (ICRMP).

The project, according to the agreement, envisions to increase natural productivity and enhanced integrity of coastal and marine resources in the island province. At the same time it provides sustainable economic activities among the Camiguinons to improve quality of life.

According to Mahinog town coastal resources management officer Arlino C. Arca that through the project, major development and conservation activities in Mantigue Island in barangay San Roque and Burias Reef to make these areas as ecotourism sites have been undertaken. Water quality monitoring stations in Mantigue Island have been established.

He said the project has since generated significant incomes for the municipality and provided livelihood opportunities among the fisherfolks.

In addition, seven (7) marine protected areas have been established and rehabilitated in Mahinog alone while municipal waters in five municipalities have been delineated.

Morever, coastal law enforcement action networks (CLEAN) formerly the bantay dagat teams have been trained and mobilized to strengthen coastal law enforcement. Four patrol boats have been provided for this purpose.

Also in Mahinog, alternative livelihood and enterprise activities such as green mussel production project in barangay Benoni, among others, are being established.

The team, composed of Ms. Rina Rosales, team leader, Mr. Kenneth Mackay and Ms. Lourdes Padilla, will assess issues being faced in the implementation of the program and propose whether phase 2 of the project should be granted or not.

Their visit includes interaction with the technical working committee, the Governor and Mayors of the 5 municipalities of Camiguin and several beneficiary groups of the project.

Conservation efforts for Mantigue get a boost, says Mahinog mayor

Mahinog, Camiguin. – Tourists are flocking to Mantigue Island with 9,004 visitors from November 2008 to October this year or after more than a year since local officials started its current restoration program for the island’s eco system, Mahinog Mayor Alex R. Jajalla said.

Mantigue, a 15 minute motor boat ride from the town of Mahinog, which boasts of white sand beaches and finest dive sites, has now emerged as a favorite nature tourism destination in northern Mindanao, the regional office of the department of tourism said.

Mayor Jajalla said that this was the highest number of tourists registered by the town’s business development office compared to only a few numbers of visitors in previous years.

He added that the rise of tourist arrivals is attributed to the local government’s continuing drive to restore and protect the island’s eco system, a move that attract tourists to visit the islet.

“The marked increase of tourists in Mantigue is a result of our environmental conservation efforts providing additional revenues for the town and economic opportunities of the people,” the mayor said.

Mantigue is part of the province’s comprehensive coastal resource management program.

In an earlier statement, Jajalla said that the presence of illegal settlers endangered the isle’s bio diversity. The turtles were disappearing, trees were cut, peace and order and garbage disposal became a perennial problem prompting local officials to save Mantigue.

He added that the municipal trial court is still hearing on the charges filed by the local government and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR)against the remaining 22 families for illegal occupancy and violation of environmental laws.

“In order to save this island from environmental degradation, we have to clear and get rid of this islet from people that only endanger its eco systems,” he said, adding that the local government has offered a resettlement package for families who heed the call to relocate.

He said half of the 44 families took the offer but the remaining half remained defiant to government’s call to relocate.

Jajalla said that contrary to the claim from the opposing camp, this initiative is not only about eco-tourism efforts. “We look at the big picture that will make a significant difference in the lives of the people in the coming years,” he stressed.

The emergence of Mantigue as an eco-tourism destination would have beneficial effects on the environment by way of raising awareness among the people on environmental protection and conservation, said the mayor.

”Once environment is properly managed and sustained, in the long run this would have a positive economic impact for the people of Mahinog,” he concluded. (Municipal Information Office)

Fish Breeding Center in Benoni Lagoon launched

DUE to its pristine waters and absence of severe weather condition, Camiguin now boasts as the site of the “the first-ever government operated milkfish hatchery in Mindanao.”

Agriculture Undersecretary Jesus Emmanuel Paras together with Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) Director Malcolm I. Sarmiento, Jr., Camiguin Governor Jurdin Jesus M. Romualdo, BFAR-10 Regional Director Arlene B. Pantanosas and Mahinog Mayor Alex R. Jajalla led the launching of Fish Breeding Facility at Benoni Lagoon, in Mahinog, Camiguin recently.

On the same day, a P4.6-million multi-species fish hatchery in Manuyog, Sagay, Camiguin was also launched to cater to the produce of the breeding facility in Benoni lagoon.

Both the broodstock in Benoni, Mahinog and hatchery in Manuyog, Sagay are part of the integrated milkfish development program of BFAR-10 aims to make northern Mindanao self-sufficient in bangus aqua-culture.

It was learned that the region is currently importing fresh bangus and fingerlings from southern Mindanao and western Mindanao.

BFAR 10 Regional Director Arlene B. Pantanosas said that with this project going full steam, northern Mindanao will triple its bangus production and supply the requirements of the region, even outside.

The bangus broodstock in Benoni lagoon can supply about 100-million eggs annually which have continually spawned since July, she added.

Director Sarmiento lauded the project stressing the need to exert “more efforts” in attaining government’s objective to be self-sufficient in fisheries. “We need more initiatives like this one in Camiguin,” says Sarmiento.

Agriculture Undersecretary Jesus Emmanuel Paras gave assurance of DA’s full support to the BFAR initiative aimed to lower bangus production cost and subsequently lower bangus prices in the local markets.

For his part, Governor Jurdin Jesus Romualdo was very happy that Camiguin was selected as the site of the BFAR project, saying this can “attract visitors and add revenues” for the province.

Mayor Alex R. Jajalla, in a statement, was also elated with the fish breeding center being located in Mahinog, as this will promote Benoni Lagoon as “agri-tourism destination” in this part of the region. (Mahinog Information Office)

Paras leads bangus harvest in Mahinog

Agriculture Undersecretary Jesus Emmanuel Paras (3rd from right) together with Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) Director Malcolm I. Sarmiento, Jr., Camiguin Governor Jurdin Jesus M. Romualdo (2nd from right), BFAR-10 Regional Director Arlene B. Pantanosas and Mahinog Mayor Alex R. Jajalla lead the milkfish “bangus” harvest in the hatchery at Benoni Lagoon, in Mahinog, Camiguin recently. A BFAR-10 project, this Milkfish Breeding and Commercial Scale Fry Production in Benoni, Mahinog and Manuyog, Sagay in Camiguin is “the first-ever government operated milkfish hatchery in Mindanao” aimed at ensuring sufficient supply of bangus in Mindanao and exporting them to domestic and international markets. (Homer R. Jajalla/Mahinog Information Office/PIA-Camiguin i-Net)

Bangus spawning in Camiguin ensures milkfish industry

TWENTY minutes before midnight of April 10, 2007, the stillness of Taguines Lagoon in Benoni, Mahinog, Camiguin province was broken by violent chasing and splashing movements of fishes being kept in a floating net cage.

The commotion was the sound of a hundred milkfish spawning numerous eggs at the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR)-Northern Mindanao station at Taguines Lagoon. Averaging about 1.2 millimeters in diameter, the transparent eggs were laid by their seven-year-old mothers in a floating net cage measuring 10 meters wide and 3 meters deep.

Closely monitored by BFAR's technical staff, the milkfish broodstock forms part of the bureau's Regional Milkfish Program headed by BFAR Regional Director Arlene B. Pantanosas. It aims to ensure the sustainable growth of the milkfish industry in the region by providing technologies for fry, fingerling, grow-out and post-harvest operations.

Eggs spawned by the broodstock will be hatched and the larvae will be reared in a proposed multi-species fish hatchery in Manguyod, Sagay, Camiguin, 20 minutes away from the broodstock site.

The hatchery targets a production of 2 million fry monthly. Fry produced will then support not only Region 10 but also the neighboring Caraga and Western Mindanao regions of their fingerling pond production, grow-out cages in the mariculture park, and eventually, the processing plant.

These operations are expected to rake in P40 to 70 million annually from these 100 captive broodstock. This year, BFAR 10 will rear another batch of juveniles to broodstock phase in 5 years to continue the propagation.

The Regional Milkfish Program is spearheaded by Gigi Albor of the Research Division of BFAR 10, ably assisted by Dr. Arnil C. Emata, formerly of SEAFDEC Aquaculture Department.

Bangus spawning in Camiguin ensures milkfish industry

TWENTY minutes before midnight of April 10, 2007, the stillness of Taguines Lagoon in Benoni, Mahinog, Camiguin province was broken by violent chasing and splashing movements of fishes being kept in a floating net cage.

The commotion was the sound of a hundred milkfish spawning numerous eggs at the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR)-Northern Mindanao station at Taguines Lagoon. Averaging about 1.2 millimeters in diameter, the transparent eggs were laid by their seven-year-old mothers in a floating net cage measuring 10 meters wide and 3 meters deep.

Closely monitored by BFAR's technical staff, the milkfish broodstock forms part of the bureau's Regional Milkfish Program headed by BFAR Regional Director Arlene B. Pantanosas. It aims to ensure the sustainable growth of the milkfish industry in the region by providing technologies for fry, fingerling, grow-out and post-harvest operations.

Eggs spawned by the broodstock will be hatched and the larvae will be reared in a proposed multi-species fish hatchery in Manguyod, Sagay, Camiguin, 20 minutes away from the broodstock site.

The hatchery targets a production of 2 million fry monthly. Fry produced will then support not only Region 10 but also the neighboring Caraga and Western Mindanao regions of their fingerling pond production, grow-out cages in the mariculture park, and eventually, the processing plant.

These operations are expected to rake in P40 to 70 million annually from these 100 captive broodstock. This year, BFAR 10 will rear another batch of juveniles to broodstock phase in 5 years to continue the propagation.

The Regional Milkfish Program is spearheaded by Gigi Albor of the Research Division of BFAR 10, ably assisted by Dr. Arnil C. Emata, formerly of SEAFDEC Aquaculture Department.