http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20100303-256441/Madrigal-vindicated-over-price-of-galunggong
MANILA, Philippines – “I am finally vindicated ... I am right after all."
So thought Senator Maria Ana Consuelo “Jamby” Madrigal during her late night campaign sortie Tuesday at the Navotas Fishport, Metro Manila's biggest seafood market.
Madrigal was “very happy” about the warm welcome she got at the wholesale and retail fish market along Manila Bay, where she gave away hundreds of “Jamby bracelets.”
But something else really made the independent presidential candidate's night.
“I learned that here at Navotas Fishport, galunggong [round scad] is sold for only P45 a kilo. Well, I am finally vindicated,” Madrigal told the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
She recalled that during a recent presidential forum sponsored by this paper, held at the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City, she said that the price of galunggong was “P60.”
“When I said P60, they [supporters of Senator Manny Villar, the Nacionalista Party standard-bearer] hooted, but they didn't even know the real price of galunggong,” the proverbial poor man's fish, the senator noted.
Madrigal pointed out that she “actually quoted the right price which is a fair price.”
“Now you can call it ‘Revenge of the Galunggong’ in your story,” she quipped.
But in Metro Manila, once it gets to the hands of second-hand retailers in city markets, where most people buy, a kilo of galunggong costs about P120. At the fishport, the wholesale price of galunggong is P1,300 to P2,500 per banyera (basin).
“Mas mahal pag lalaking galunggong, mura pag babae [The male fish is more expensive than the female],” said vendor Flora Enriquez, a native of Burias Island, Masbate.
Fish vendor Hermie Pioquinto said the wholesale prices of galunggong and other fish varieties were “a little high these days because there's a full moon. Fish catch is low.”
“Salay-salay sells for P1,800 per banyera. Sapsap, P2,500. Dalagang Bukid, P3,300 and squid, P4,000,” said Pioquinto, who is from Calasiao, Pangasinan. Tilapia and Laguna lake bangus are sold at P35 and P70-80 a kilo.
Despite the red tide scare, tahong baklad (shellfish) “still sells at P25-45 a kilo,” said vendor Ken Palomeno.
Madrigal said, “It's people in big business and [fish] traders, those who don't care about the poor who jack up the price of galunggong.”
“And in my presidency, we will reverse this,” she said matter-of-factly.
During a brief dialog with fish vendors and some fishermen, Madrigal blamed the controversial Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement or JPEPA for the fisherfolk's woes.
JPEPA was signed by the Manila and Tokyo governments and eventually ratified by the Senate in October 2008. Madrigal was one of the four senators who voted against the treaty.
“Under JPEPA, 'yung mga Japanese fishing boats ay puwedeng mangisda dito at kayo ang napipirwisyo kasi ang natitira sa inyo ay maliliit na isda na lamang [Japanese fishing boats can fish on Philippine waters and you are disadvantaged because what are left for you to catch are the small fishes],” Madrigal said.
In her platform of government, Madrigal called for the abrogation of “anti-Filipino agreements such as JPEPA.”
She stressed the need to “uphold the sovereignty and exclusive fishing rights for local fisherfolk over Philippine fisheries and territorial waters against the encroachment and poaching by Japanese, Chinese and other foreign factory and trawl fishermen.”
“We should also safeguard the productivity and income of local fisherfolk and their fishing grounds against the pollution and siltation caused by industrial, mining and logging companies, as well as from displacement by foreign and local oligarchic business projects like the [planned] Sangley International Port [in Cavite City],” Madrigal said.
MANILA, Philippines – “I am finally vindicated ... I am right after all."
So thought Senator Maria Ana Consuelo “Jamby” Madrigal during her late night campaign sortie Tuesday at the Navotas Fishport, Metro Manila's biggest seafood market.
Madrigal was “very happy” about the warm welcome she got at the wholesale and retail fish market along Manila Bay, where she gave away hundreds of “Jamby bracelets.”
But something else really made the independent presidential candidate's night.
“I learned that here at Navotas Fishport, galunggong [round scad] is sold for only P45 a kilo. Well, I am finally vindicated,” Madrigal told the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
She recalled that during a recent presidential forum sponsored by this paper, held at the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City, she said that the price of galunggong was “P60.”
“When I said P60, they [supporters of Senator Manny Villar, the Nacionalista Party standard-bearer] hooted, but they didn't even know the real price of galunggong,” the proverbial poor man's fish, the senator noted.
Madrigal pointed out that she “actually quoted the right price which is a fair price.”
“Now you can call it ‘Revenge of the Galunggong’ in your story,” she quipped.
But in Metro Manila, once it gets to the hands of second-hand retailers in city markets, where most people buy, a kilo of galunggong costs about P120. At the fishport, the wholesale price of galunggong is P1,300 to P2,500 per banyera (basin).
“Mas mahal pag lalaking galunggong, mura pag babae [The male fish is more expensive than the female],” said vendor Flora Enriquez, a native of Burias Island, Masbate.
Fish vendor Hermie Pioquinto said the wholesale prices of galunggong and other fish varieties were “a little high these days because there's a full moon. Fish catch is low.”
“Salay-salay sells for P1,800 per banyera. Sapsap, P2,500. Dalagang Bukid, P3,300 and squid, P4,000,” said Pioquinto, who is from Calasiao, Pangasinan. Tilapia and Laguna lake bangus are sold at P35 and P70-80 a kilo.
Despite the red tide scare, tahong baklad (shellfish) “still sells at P25-45 a kilo,” said vendor Ken Palomeno.
Madrigal said, “It's people in big business and [fish] traders, those who don't care about the poor who jack up the price of galunggong.”
“And in my presidency, we will reverse this,” she said matter-of-factly.
During a brief dialog with fish vendors and some fishermen, Madrigal blamed the controversial Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement or JPEPA for the fisherfolk's woes.
JPEPA was signed by the Manila and Tokyo governments and eventually ratified by the Senate in October 2008. Madrigal was one of the four senators who voted against the treaty.
“Under JPEPA, 'yung mga Japanese fishing boats ay puwedeng mangisda dito at kayo ang napipirwisyo kasi ang natitira sa inyo ay maliliit na isda na lamang [Japanese fishing boats can fish on Philippine waters and you are disadvantaged because what are left for you to catch are the small fishes],” Madrigal said.
In her platform of government, Madrigal called for the abrogation of “anti-Filipino agreements such as JPEPA.”
She stressed the need to “uphold the sovereignty and exclusive fishing rights for local fisherfolk over Philippine fisheries and territorial waters against the encroachment and poaching by Japanese, Chinese and other foreign factory and trawl fishermen.”
“We should also safeguard the productivity and income of local fisherfolk and their fishing grounds against the pollution and siltation caused by industrial, mining and logging companies, as well as from displacement by foreign and local oligarchic business projects like the [planned] Sangley International Port [in Cavite City],” Madrigal said.
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