The fishermans side of the story.

Preparing the fuse.

1 pint (half liter) Blast.

As one would expect it was not easy to gain the confidence of the local fishermen and get them to talk, but armed with several bottles of Rum, some small giveaways and agreeing to drink some "Tuba" with them  which is a locally made Coconut wine and quite potent, I managed to strike up a converstaion with a group of Fishermen in the tiny village of Pongdol not far from San antonio. The following extracts are from a recorded conversation with their spokesman Mr Manong who was one of the few who spoke english.

Do you always use dynamite Manong?
Manong; No, when the Tuna fish are here we use nets and rombo lines, it's not easy to catch Tuna with dynamite.
So what fish do you catch with dynamite?
Manong; Depends, lately we get Manila fish but we do that in the night.
Why in the night?
Manong; Cos the Mayor and Boy Abayon said we gotta keep a bit low at this time so we go out at night to the fishing grounds down near Tagapulan and in the night these kind of fish are feeding near the surface and are easy to catch
You mean the Mayor and the Congressman want you to stop dynamite fishing?
Manong; No just keep quiet about it for the moment, we can continue but not near here 'cos this place is being watched too much.
Oh I see, so you have to go farther away thats all?
Manong; Yes, something like that.
What size charges do you use?
Manong; all sizes depends on how many fish we see.
But isn't it a bit dangerous handling the dynamite?
Manong; No, only when you light it, you gotta be quick you know! (laughter from his commrades.)
Have any of you had any accidents with the dynamite?
Manong; Take a look around the Island!  Our job is not an easy job you know, even a couple of months ago two guys over at Dalupirit were fishing and the fuse was too short, they were in a two man paddle boat and the guy in front lifted the dynamite above his head to throw it and it exploded, he lost his hands and the guy behind hime got the full blast in his face!
Did they die?
Manong; After few days one died,the other one lost his hands and went deaf and can't see properly anymore.
But when that happens do the dynamite suppliers pay you damages or the medication bills?
Manong laughing; No, they said it was their own fault.
How many blasts do you need to get a good catch ?
Manong Three maybe four, depends.
Do you ever Catch Dolphins or Turtles?
Manong; No we only go for the fish we know we can sell in Allen or Calbayog.
But have you ever caught any Turtles with the fish?
Manong; Sometimes but we can't sell 'em so we let 'em go or throw 'em away.
What about dolphins?
Manong; We got one a couple of months ago and sold it in allen but we cant sell 'em there anymore 'cos they got controls now in allen.
So what will you do the next time you catch one, throw it back, let it go?
Manong; No, we can cut it up and sell it here to the villages, its 55 pesos a kilo now!
How much do you make in a nights fishing?
Manong; Look, we got families and we've got to eat, I've not even got enough money to buy a motorbike, look at our houses we can't even afford to live like the people on the mainland. By the time we pay for the boat and the Gasoline we only get about 100 or 150 pesos a day each. Then when the bad weather comes sometimes we can only go fishing two weeks in a month. Some people think we get a lot of money but its just not true. Just take a look around, look at how our kids are dressed and what we have! Nothing! Most of us can't even send our kids to school. You've seen how we live! Does it look like we got money?
It looks to me that the only people who make money are the dynamite suppliers!
Manong; Yes, even when we don't have enough money to buy the dynamite we can get it free but we have to give half of our catch to them! And sometimes when the Bantay Dagat (Coastal Police) catch us they take away our catch and impound our boat for weeks and we have to pay the fine but the suppliers don't have to pay nothing!
Why is that?
Manong; 'Cos they are more protected than us I suppose 'cos they never get caught, you know that Burabod is the place of the Mayor and the Congressman so no-one can arrest them there! So the police just keep picking on us and its not fair really. We get the blame for everything but we've got to eat and feed our wives and kids so what can we do?

Part two