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 ort Barton
is a community of migrants. "First Resident" Mayor Alejandro
Villapando and Barangay Captain Romeo Garganta
Sr. are from Quezon Province. The Bantay Dagat
chairman, Edmundante Tayco, is from Masbate. Erstwhile Councilman and
village elder Falconeri Tatoy is from Aklan. Seaweed growers' cooperative
leader Florencia Alimodin is from Samar. The president of the resort owners
association comes from far-away Switzerland.
Indeed, each year, tourists from all over the world would visit Port Barton,
drawn by the area's natural attractions. Aside from the white sand beach
on the main cove of the village, there are coral reefs and unpolluted
beaches in the outlying islands, two waterfalls, and a forest that remains
heavily wooded despite years of intensive logging.
Port Barton's natural attractions are a magnet
that draws migrants and tourists from many parts of the country and the
world.
For most of Port Barton's settlers, the area's rich marine resources
have been a most important magnet. Since the 1980s, when a total ban on
logging took effect nationwide, they have come to rely heavily on the
sea for food and income, and, for the most part, the sea has been more
than generous. There was a time not too long ago when people could not
recall a moment when their waters were not teeming with fish and other
marine resources, seemingly always there for the picking.
But they have not been spared the bane of destructive fishing and over-exploitation
that has devastated many fishing grounds in the country. Once in a not
too distant past, they told tales of the sea's limitless bounties, of
fish virtually "begging" to be harvested right there in the
shallows. Today, they speak of the need to protect their diminished but
still rich marine resources in the rueful tone of people who knew better
times, and with the thoughtful insight of those who have come to terms
with their own responsibility for the way things are and could be.
A migrants' story
Named after an Englishman who surveyed the islands in the 1940s, Port
Barton traces its roots to Tagbanua settlements established before the
turn of the century. The place used to be called "Itaytay" by
the 10 tribal families that lived there. In 1933, when loggers arrived
and set up camp in the village, the Tagbanuas fled to the mountains, but
later forged a blood pact with the new settlers, which improved relations
among residents in the area.
In 1961, Port Barton was made into a barangay of Puerto Princesa. It became
part of San Vicente when the latter became a municipality in 1972. With
a land area of nearly 23,000 hectares (including 13 islands), it is bigger
than many towns in the Philippines, but not nearly as populated. It has
only 4,362 residents in 981 households. They come from disparate backgrounds,
practice at least three religions (Roman Catholic, Pentecostal, Iglesia
ni Cristo), and speak a host of dialects - Waray, Cuyunon, Cebuano, Masbateņo,
Tagalog, Ilonggo, Ilokano, and Agutaynon, among others.
Despite their disparate backgrounds, Port
Barton residents share a strong connection to the sea.
In-migration built the community that Port Barton has become. Back when
logging was a big industry, professionals and skilled workers from many
parts of the country came to work for Pagdanan Timber, a logging concession
owned and operated by the multinational Jardine Davies Corporation in
Pagdanan, one of Port Barton's 15 puroks
(rough translation: hamlet).
They and the other salaried workers of the company provided business
for Port Barton residents, fueling commerce and making the village a trade
center of San Vicente (Click
here to download coastal environmental profile of San Vicente), rivaling
the capital Poblacion.
The
logging company has since
closed shop, but many of its employees have remained, including Tatoy and Barangay
Captain Garganta. They literally built their village, establishing its high
school, its first cooperative, neighborhood stores, even the barangay itself.
Kap Tatoy recalls the early days before there was anything resembling
a road in what is now the barangay proper. He was then a councilman
tasked to organize the barangay, a job he describes as a "hard sacrifice."
Receiving a monthly honorarium of Php120 and braving deadly malaria
mosquitoes, long walks on muddy trails and the sometimes rough seas, he
and his colleagues visited remote areas of Port Barton to help organize
the barangay.
Falconeri Tatoy, originally from Aklan, came to Port Barton to work for a
logging company.
Tayco reckons up to 80% of Port Barton residents are not native born.
They came here for many different reasons, most in search of better economic
opportunities, some looking for a permanent place to stay, and others
intending to visit only but later deciding to stay for good.
Tatoy arrived with his family in 1975, during the heyday of logging in
the area, to work as marine superintendent in charge of all watercraft
of Pagdanan Timber. In 1980, when Jardine Davies pulled out of Pagdanan,
"Kap", as he is called fondly by his neighbors, resigned from
the company and settled his family in the barangay proper.
Edmundante Tayco, originally from Masbate, lived
in other parts of San Vicente before settling in Port
Barton.
Tayco and 39 relatives fled their hometown in two motorboats in 1972
after a dispute over land claimed the lives of four of their kin. They
lived in two other San Vicente barangays -Alimanguhan and Caruray - before
moving to Port Barton in 1975.
Alimodin, seeking a fresh start after a failed marriage, came to Port
Barton in 1993 with her two children. Urs Buchler, a resort owner, first
visited in 1978, came back for several more visits, decided to set up
a resort with a Filipino partner in 1984, and now divides his time between
Switzerland and the Philippines.
Despite their very different backgrounds, these migrants share a common
connection to the sea. Kap Tatoy was not only a seaman, he also used to
be engaged in fishing, first as a hobby then as a source of income (he
has since shifted to farming). Tayco comes from a family of fishers -
his father, he says, has never had any inclination to farming. Alimodin
is a fisher, a fish vendor and now also a seaweed farmer. Buchler is a
diver, the main reason that brought him to Port Barton in the first place.
Then, of course, there are the fishers who first came here from neighboring
provinces in search of new fishing grounds, many intending to stay only
for the fishing season but ending up making their home here.
In fact, Port Barton remains essentially a fishing village. Some 65% of
its residents depend on fishing for livelihood. There are six fish landing
areas here, with buying stations serving mainly Puerto Princesa but also
the lucrative markets of the Visayas and Luzon, where the settlers have
maintained strong ties.
Protecting the sea
While the migrants injected fresh ideas and economic vigor to the village,
however, they also brought with them some practices that soon threatened
their natural environment. Bantay Palawan, the environmental protection
agency of the provincial government of San Vicente, Palawan, report that
an estimated 10% of fishers in San Vicente engage in cyanide
fishing, usually during the northeastern monsoon season from November
to March.
There are no data on the
incidence of cyanide fishing in Port Barton but they would reflect the
municipal figures. In Pagdanan, the barangay's old logging hamlet, fishers
are known to use lagtang
(a plant-based
poison) and sodium cyanide to catch tuna. The Coastal
Resource Management Project's (CRMP) publication Rhythm of the
Sea: Coastal Environmental Profile of San Vicente (download)
cites reports from fishers saying that the use of cyanide in the last
five years has destroyed fisheries in at least five puroks, namely, Panindigan,
Boayan, Gawid, Caruray and Lampinigan.
Blast fishing has also devastated Port Barton 's
fishing grounds. "Although we didn't really feel it then, my guess is
fisheries started declining in the mid-1970s because of blast fishing,"
says Tayco. "I remember one time when tons of dynamited fish were washed
ashore across a wide stretch of our coastline. They just rotted
there."
They never did find out who the perpetrators were, but Tayco is sure of
one thing: "The natives do not practice blast fishing. They're afraid of
it. They run away when they hear an explosion."
Buchler believes the situation was at its worst 15 years ago. "Cyanide
fishing and dynamite fishing were rampant," he says.
Many fishers live in wooden shacks on the water.
This settlement is located in Pagdanan, Port Barton's former logging hamlet.
(Arquiza, Buenaflor 1996)
The influx of migrants has become a threat to the environment
in more ways than one. On the island of Albaguen, the population density
is so high the place looks like an urban shantytown. Waste management
has become a major problem, along with the over-extraction of resources.
Luckily for Port Barton, the local government has embraced conservation
as a primary concern. San Vicente is a pioneer in the implementation of
the Strategic Environmental Plan for Palawan (SEP), a unique law which
emphasizes equitable access to and local community management of resources,
giving importance to ecological viability and social acceptability of
development projects. The key provision of this law is the creation of
an Environmentally Critical Areas Network (ECAN), a zoning system that
divides each of the province's 23 towns and the capital city into core
zones, buffer zones, and multiple use zones.
Since the creation in 1993 of the SEP-San Vicente Project (SEP-SVP), San
Vicente has established a communal forest. It has also finished an ECAN
map for the terrestrial zone of its barangays.
To be a community
The government's conservation program enjoys a high level of public acceptance,
but such acceptance has been hard-won. In fact, when CRMP started its
work in 1997, it found a community that was openly skeptical of the government's
intentions and ability to "deliver the goods."
Past experiences have made Port Barton folks distrustful of government
projects, explains Kap Tatoy's wife Tess, who is herself a highly regarded
community leader. "I can't say I blame them. I can't recall how many
training workshops we attended, and how many baskets and placemats we
made. Nothing came out of it."
"But I don't blame the government either," she hastens to add.
"They had good intentions. They saw how much our community needed
help, and they did the best they could. But we were not ready, and the
market was not ready."
For two years, CRMP and its supporters cajoled and reasoned with the community,
insisting on their participation in the coastal
resource management process, from resource assessment through planning
to implementation. And one by one, the various groups were won over.
"It was difficult in the beginning," says Tayco, who, as purok
leader and because of his involvement in the Bantay Dagat and people's
organizations, was named chairman of a technical working group convened
by the Project in 1997. "We called people to meetings, and I even
spent my own money for snacks. At first, they would not accept the program,
but through sheer hard work we were able to convince them."
Many agree that the turning point came in 1999, when all of the key players
in coastal resource management finally began to work together to legislate
the establishment of the Port Barton Marine Park. The barangay has designated
123 hectares as a marine park and formulated a zoning plan for its waters.
It has also completed a coastal resource management plan, which has been
submitted to the municipal government for approval and subsequent integration
into the municipal development plan.
The Port Barton Marine Park was set up in 1997 and
1998 with the community's help. It is now regarded as a model
for marine conservation in Palawan.
Overall, although illegal fishing methods have persisted, there is a
consensus that these have been minimized to a large extent by stricter
laws and law enforcement. An alternative enterprise - seaweed farming
- has been identified, and a pilot farm has been established involving
about a dozen cooperators.
In November 1999, Villapando strengthened the protection of designated
marine sanctuaries by installing two police outposts at strategic points
near the marine park. "We're trying to stop illegal fishing, especially
the encroachment of commercial fishers on our municipal waters,"
he says. "Commercial fishers from as far as Navotas and Cavite come
to Port Barton, blatantly flouting the law. They're a big problem for
us, more so because our law enforcers are ill-equipped to patrol our waters.
But we are doing our best. We have to show these violators that we do
not tolerate illegal activities here."
The encroachment of commercial fishers on Port
Barton's waters contributes to Port Barton's over-fishing problem.
Garganta has committed 20% of the barangay's development fund for the
maintenance and protection of the marine park. "We are willing to
invest in the park because we want to see it succeed, because we know
it will be good for the community in the long run."
Barangay Captain Romeo Garganta Sr., shown here with youth leader Marvin
Ballesteros (right) and boatmen's association chairman Wilfredo Ruiz, says
he wants the Port Barton Marine Park to succeed. "We know
it will be good for the community," he says.
Fortunately, the community is increasingly involved in protecting their
marine resources. Even the youth are pitching in. "We organize coastal
clean-up activities and help in waste management," says Marvin Ballesteros,
chairman of Port Barton's youth council.
Indeed, the mayor is banking on the young people of his town. "As
early as now, we must show and teach them the importance of our environment,
and that they are responsible for its protection."
Mayor Alejandro Villapando, shown here with a
community leader, Tess Tatoy, says, "As early as now, we must teach
our young people the importance of our environment."
One seaweed farmer, Florencia Alimodin, has shown a tenacity that augurs
well for the future of Port Barton. A single mother with two school-age
children, Alimodin set up her farm with CRMP's help in 1998. She toiled
under the sun for months, only to see a strong typhoon wipe out all her
efforts. Undeterred, she started over. "The others in my group lost
interest, but the thought of giving up never occurred to me, even when
I had to use my own money to start up a new farm," she says.
Seaweed farming offers an economically promising alternative source
of income that is also environment-friendly.
Today, her seaweed farm serves as a model for the rest of her community.
Wilfredo Ruiz, chairman of the boatmen's association, had their group
accredited last year so they could avail of government financing for seaweed
production. He explains, "The tourist season and therefore our boat
operations last only four months each year (November-February). Seaweed
farming will allow us to earn income during the off-season. We are also
told it will not harm the marine environment, which is important to us
who depend on tourism, because it is our marine ecological destinations
that the tourists come to Port Barton for."
Port Barton folks
rarely say goodbye. Instead, they say, "Come back, come back." Fortunately
for us all, they are learning to treasure the natural attractions
that make their guests want to come back over and over again.
Although many of them came here as strangers, they are learning to be
a real community, knowing full well that it takes a community to protect the
beneficent but fragile marine environment that has nurtured and kept them in this
place they have learned to call "home".
"Most of us are not native-born, but we have established our roots
here," says Tess Tatoy. "Port Barton is our home. We are working
hard to be a community we can be proud of."
Port Barton is one of 10 barangays of the municipality of San Vicente
on the west coast of Palawan. (Click here to download coastal
environmental profile of San Vicente)
The barangay is the primary unit that plans and implements government
policies, programs, projects and activities in the community in the
Philippines. It may be created out of a contiguous territory with a
population of at least 2,000 (or 5,000 in highly urbanized areas), as
certified by the National Statistics Office. It is headed by the Barangay
Captain (also called Punong Barangay), who acts as the presiding officer
of the Sangguniang Barangay (legislative council of the barangay). The
Barangay Captain has a term of office of three years and may serve
continuously for up to three terms. (Primer Q&A:
Local Government Code of 1991 by M.S. Tabunda and M.M. Galang, Mary Jo
Educational Supply, Manila, Philippines. 1991)
The barangay may be divided into smaller units called
purok or sitio, each of which may
have its own leader, usually appointed by the Sangguniang
Barangay.
The Bantay Dagat is a citizen's group deputized to
patrol municipal waters and enforce fishery and coastal laws.
Core zones are restricted areas, such as national parks, marine reserves,
and higher elevations that require maximum protection and minimal human
intrusion. These core zones are surrounded by buffer zones, which are
intended to shield the inner areas from economic activities. The lower and
generally more developed areas are designated as multiple-use zones, where
most town sites and settlements are found.
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