No more fish festival in Guimaras
Presidential Adviser for Western Visayas Rafael Coscolluela confirmed the cancellation of the proposed “fish festival” in the island province of Guimaras. As this developed, the Protection and Indemnity (P&I) Club asked the provincial office of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) to return the budget intended for the said activity.
Coscolluela said that the International Oil Pollution Compensation Fund (IOPCF) has already hinted that they will not reimburse the P&I Club of whatever amount they have released for the fish festival since the event was not materialized.
The option left for the P&I is to recall the budget since no festival was held in relation to the oil spill aftermath on the lives of fishermen. The fish festival was supposed to showcase the catch in the waters of Guimaras.
The P&I Club is the insurer of the MT Solar I. Reportedly, P&I released the budget last year. The amount released for the festival is reimbursable under the IOPCF terms and conditions.
The purpose of the supposed fish festival is already defeated because the time element for the event has already passed. It is already useless to hold the event considering that the fishermen have already returned to their work. The IOPCF deemed that the fish festival is not necessary anymore, said Coscolluela.
In last Monday's briefing with the Task Force SOS, Coscolluela clarified that the budget for the fish festival alone is only P80,000. He said the reported P600,000 probably includes not only for the fish festival but for the tourism promotion as first presented to the P&I Club.
Meanwhile, Aimee Sobrevega, Coastal Farm Resource Management Technical Staff of BFAR said they have already returned the fund for the fish festival after the cancellation of the event.
But, when frisked by the media on when they returned the money, Sobrevega said they are still on the process of returning the money. She was also caught flat-footed when asked over details regarding the budget.