SAN JOSE DE BUENAVISTA, Antique – A jobless man who had been looking for a source of income while attending to his aging parents finally got what he needs with the help of the Bureau Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR).
Michael Nono, who used to earn from fishing in the northern town of Sebaste, is one of the recipients of the fish snack cart, a priority fisheries livelihood project of BFAR worth PHP10,000.
“I have to attend to my parents who are now old,” he said in the local dialect Kiniray-a during an interview Monday.
He said going out to sea to fish kept him away from his parents most of the time.
Nono, who is now in his 40’s, said being the only one who takes care of his parents, he had to sacrifice himself without a job and money for a long time.
“I really wanted to have a job which could also provide me an income but that it should only be within Barangay Idio,”he said.
He said he is grateful that he had been identified as one of the recipients of the livelihood project.
Nono received the fish cart during the turnover ceremony last October 26 from Senator Loren Legarda and BFAR Provincial Fisheries Director Lorna Angor at the Evelio B. Javier Gymnasium in San Jose de Buenavista.
The beneficiary already received the food supplies worth PHP10,000 for kikiam, squid rings, and cooking utensils last August from BFAR and Office of the Provincial Agriculture.
“I am now earning PHP500 daily because of what I am selling,” he said.
Nono said he is very happy now that he has his own money to spend for his own personal needs and even for his parents.
Alletth Gayatin, Senior Aquaculturist of the Office of Provincial Agriculture (OPA), said the project benefits 30 marginalized fisherfolk in the province.
The beneficiaries were from the towns of Anini-y, Belison, Bugasong, Laua-an, Culasi, Sebaste and Libertad with two marginalized fisherfolks each; Tobias Fornier, Hamtic, San Jose de Buenavista and Patnongon with three each and Sibalom, Barbaza, Tibiao and Pandan with one beneficiary each. (Annabel Consuelo Petinglay/PNA)
