By DUCKY PAREDES
‘Dagupan City Mayor Benjamin Lim began asking where the plant’s Business Permit was. This was needed, said the Mayor, for the plant to continue operations.’
THAT hackneyed attempt at humor in this piece’s title actually hits the target since the actual problem is fish, the bangus (milkfish), the best in the Philippines which purportedly comes from Dagupan. In fact, the South Korean government was so impressed with how the people of Dagupan had developed the bangus that the Korean government set up the city’s state-of-the-art, US$2.4 million (approximately P100 million) Seafood Processing Plant in Barangay Bonuan, Binloc.
So, that’s a problem? There wasn’t any, at first; in fact, the plant used to employ 80 to 100 locals and effectively raised the income of fish farmers in the area. But, that was only then -- at the beginning.
Since October of last year, after operating for a whole year, the plant has been closed.
Of course, when it started operations, the Seafood Processing Plant was hailed by everyone as a great advance for Dagupan and something sorely needed by its local economy that is dependent on the bangus.
Having a fish processing plant in Dagupan is a dream for the people of Dagupan. This is like having a sugar mill in a sugar-growing area. In fact, other products from the bangus could possibly also be processed and packaged as well.
What makes this more like a real dream is that not a single centavo of public funds or local capital was used to put up the plant.
In a show of support to the Philippine economy, the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) set up and paid for the entire project.
The idea was to establish a facility where Dagupan’s renowned bangus could be locally processed and exported. And the Seafood Processing Plant did just that. Soon after it opened, the volume of orders grew, as did the workforce. Ask any fisherman in Dagupan and they will tell you that those were the best of times. The plant had a ripple effect that pushed the entire supply chain forward.
After more than one year, the plant was noticed by some local VIPs, who saw a way to make money for themselves.
Suddenly, Dagupan City Mayor Benjamin Lim began asking where the plant’s Business Permit was. This was needed, said the Mayor, for the plant to continue operations.
Most people in Dagupan were perplexed. Weren’t the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) operating the Seafood Processing Plant? This is a government agency and not a business entity. Thus, the plant was not operating for profit, but public service! And, wasn’t the plant given to the Philippines and funded by KOICA “for public service, and not for profit”?
Sadly, for Dagupenos, their mayor served closure orders on their Seafood Processing Plant!
(The Local Government Code of 1991 declared that it the policy of the Philippines to give local autonomy to the smallest political subdivisions of the country, down to the barangays, “to enable them to attain their fullest development as self-reliant communities and make them more effective partners in the attainment of national goals.”)
Sadly, in invoking the Local Government Code of 1991, many local governments err in going against the maxim: “If it ain’t broke, why fix it?” Dagupan’s Seafood Processing Plant seems to be one of those cases!
One has to wonder if there is even anyone in the Dagupan City government qualified to run a Fish Processing Plant. It was being run competently enough by the BFAR. Who’s going to do it for the Dagupan City Hall? Mayor Lim?
Even the Dagupan City Council had repeatedly stated that the BFAR was infinitely more qualified for the job than any City Hall employee.
Things became a lot clearer, though, when one important detail surfaced. It appears that Mayor Lim does not want to manage and operate the plant for an extended period of time. Once operations are turned over to City Hall, he reportedly plans to form an executive committee, which will eventually arrange for the transfer of the plant to a third-party that will lease it. According to many sources, Lim already has a “favorite” company in mind.
Whether this violates the terms of the KOICA donation which states that the plant was donated to be used “for public service, and not for profit” is something that the City ought to first thresh out with its lawyers.
Last September 4, a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) was ready to be signed, giving the Dagupan City government joint management of the plant with the BFAR.
Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala, BFAR Director Asis Perez, and Lim were all set to proceed with the formalities. However, literally hours before the event, the head offices of the agencies involved called off the MOA signing. No explanation was given by the two Agriculture officials on why the activity was cancelled. Sources say that Mayor Lim’s face was a deep shade of red that day as he was seething with anger.
Perhaps because of this delay, a Dagupan councilor is now scheduled to sponsor a resolution in the City Council, authorizing the Mayor to explore all possibilities to enter into a successful MOU that will transfer the management and operation of the plant to the city government.
The Councilor in question? None other than Brian Lim, Mayor Benjie Lim’s son.
In the meantime, corrosion has slowly but steadily set in on the idle Seafood Processing Plant. What was once a proud symbol of local industry is now a bitter reminder of the fishy goings-on in Dagupan. I wonder what the Koreans are thinking about all these and their soon-to-become rusty scrap P100 million contribution to Dagupan’s economy.
Readers who missed a column can access www.duckyparedes.com/blogs. This is updated daily. Your reactions are welcome at duckyparedes@yahoo.com
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