Philippines

Real survivors help one another

As his village's fishing resources disappear, the elder of the Bermejo clan worries the family will not have enough money to educate its youngest members.

The extensive, irregular coastline of the Philippines archipelago is dotted with picturesque fishing villages such as Santa Lourdes on the island of Palawan, a long, narrow strip of land between the Sulu and South China seas. Picturesque, that is, until you look closer.

Most of the residents are here because there is nowhere else that has enough fish to feed them. The village is overcrowded. Members of extended families share tiny plots of land.

The Bermejos, for example, share a small house with two married daughters. Altogether they have nine children and 24 grandchildren.

The elder Bermejo said he has seen everything change during his working life. His daughter's family does not even own a boat. The great worry now is they will not have enough money to educate their children. They also fear that the youngest in the family have no future here.

Observers say that by the time many of the young people of Santa Lourdes are adults, they will have to leave home for the city. Many will go abroad; some will probably never return.

A typically early evening will find men of the village setting out to try their luck in the bay. These days their hopes are not high. The average fish caught is only 5 inches long. As some of the larger boats returned on a recent morning, the fishermen's faces told their own story. The catch was pathetically small for a night of hard work.

With fewer and smaller fish being caught, fishermen have resorted to destructive and illegal methods, such as using dynamite and cyanide. These are acts of desperation and ignorance, and they only make matters worse.

The fishermen are well aware they compete with factory ships from around the world that haul fish out of the ocean in huge quantities -- all of the catches destined for faraway markets.

Tokyo has the world's largest fish market. The Japanese eat more fish per capita than any other people on Earth. To meet the demands, catches are brought in from around the globe.

As their catches become smaller, some fishermen are making money by renting their boats to tourists.

International waters, according to environmentalists, are a free-for-all zone that will continue to be overfished unless some controls are imposed on individual nations.

For all their problems, however, the people of Palawan have not given up hope. One person who is counting on this hope to make a difference is the popular district mayor, Edward Hagedorn.

Hagedorn grew up on Palawan. He knows the area's problems and is trying to help the fishing villages help themselves. In every village a dynamic young leader has been elected who is encouraging people to think of new ways to improve their lives.

"We believe that no leader can ever succeed in any endeavor without the support of the populace, without the support of the people," Hagedorn said. "And this is what we actually believe is the biggest achievement of our administration over the years. We're able to gain back their confidence, and in the process they feel that they are part of the system, that they are empowered, and I think this is how it should really be."

Often women are the first to take up Hagedorn's challenge. The emphasis is on self-sufficiency. In village meetings people are asked to suggest new ways to generate extra income instead of relying on fishing. In Santa Lourdes the list is ambitious, but some activities are already in practice.

A rotation has been drawn up to give each family a chance to ferry tourists to the beaches across the bay. Although some fishermen may be too proud to use their boats for anything but fishing, no one is complaining.

Hagedorn said that everywhere along the coast there is a new sense of purpose. Big new mangrove forests, for example, have been planted that will help keep coastal waters free of pollution and provide spawning grounds for many fish species. The hope is that the new mangroves will eventually improve fishing.

"We have stopped cyanide and dynamite by almost 95 percent, and even illegal logging, and slash and burn farming," Hagedorn said. "Before, we received reports of up to 700 forest fires [mainly] because of this illegal form of farming. But last year only about 12 fires were reported."

Hagedorn's supporters say if ever proof was needed that a dynamic individual can make a difference, it can be found on the island of Palawan. But Hagedorn said that self-help will never be enough, and others beyond the Philippines' borders will have to play their roles.