NAGA CITY-Where the Naga and Bikol Rivers meet in Barangay Sabang, hook and line anglers gather from sunrise to sunset everyday to fish in the grayish black waters that have become not just cultural landmarks but also lifelines for the poor in Naga City.
One of those anglers is Roberto Magas, 35. He would come to the riverside at six o'clock the morning to catch fish for viand.
"For me, fishing has been a pastime but I am doing it now because I have no work. I fish in the river everyday so I could provide viand for my family," says Magas, a carpenter and occasional construction worker.
He said he had been fishing in Naga River since he was five years old.
"There are days when I do not have a catch but there are times also when I catch about 4 kilos of fish before I go home in the afternoon."
He said fishes caught in the waters of river include carp, burirawan (eel), tilapia, puyo (perch), and the mudfish-like 'bakla' (colloq.).
He said it hardly mattered to him if the fishes came from the river made gray by impurities including "garbage and seepage from the Naga City Public Market, garbage thrown by residents on the riverbanks, human excrements, and oil spills from the trawling vessels docked at the confluence of Naga and Bikol Rivers."
"I know that the river is polluted but the fishes I catch are still good to eat, except for carps which sometimes taste and smell like petroleum."
Health risk
He said at home they still eat carps from the river despite unpleasant taste. "We are used to it. We just squeeze calamansi (lime) to the fish so it will not smell and taste like kerosene."
They consume fish "contaminated with petroleum" despite its disadvantageous effects to health.
Dr. Joframel V. Paz, medical officer IV at the health office of Naga City, said eating fishes contaminated with petroleum could lead to gastrointestinal (of the stomach and the intestines) problems which may result to vomiting, stomachache, and diarrhea.
"Prolonged consumption is risky as the toxins from contaminated food may accumulate in the body of the consumer, leading to further serious complications."
Oil spills
But Paz said the city health office was yet to take actions because there were no reports or complaints of persons in the city getting sick because of eating contaminated fish caught in the river.
The anglers were complaining the presence of trawling vessels in the river, which they blame for oil spills in the waters where they fish. They said oil would seep into the silt on the riverbed, and fishes in turn would eat food particles that came in contact with that seepage.
"Polluted"
Magas said they were worried about the state of the river. "It is becoming polluted day by day. Piles of garbage are being thrown in the river. Sewages from the public market and other business establishments, especially restaurants, in the city proper go directly to the river."
Rodolfo Nellesca, 46, of Barangay Triangulo, said some residents on the riverbanks would take advantage of rainy days. "So it would not be noticed, they do their throwing of garbage in the rain."
Nellesca, a mason, also fishes in Naga River everyday. He said he would go fishing only in the river whenever no one was asking for his services.
He said during rainy days, he would have little or no catch because the floating piles of garbage would tangle with his fishing line.
"There are times when I mistake garbage for fish. What I thought was big fish pulling my line would turn out to be piece of cloth or plastic bottle drifting with the current."
Fishing enthusiast Rencel Hernandez, 25, of Quezon City, said Naga River was not that polluted. "If Naga River is polluted then we should have not been catching fishes here. It is the minds of those who throw garbage in the river that are polluted."
Saving Naga River
Hernadez had been fishing with Magas and Nellesca everyday since he came on vacation in Naga City.
Sabang councilor Edgardo Dela Cruz, chair of the barangay committee on environmental protection and restoration, said they had been tapping the anglers in their implementation of Salvar Salog (save the river) program, which they formally started in August 8, 2008.
"We ask them to report to us, barangay officials, persons who throw garbage into the river, since they (anglers) are the ones who have eyes on the river almost everyday."
Dela Cruz said the anglers had been very helpful in protecting the river. "We only have about 45 deputized personnel taking part in the implementation of the program (which was subsequently assumed by the city government). The anglers have served as watchmen."
He said implementing the program, which includes regular clean-up activities, had been hard despite extensive information dissemination.
"There are still those who secretly and irresponsibly throw garbage in the river."
He said the problem lies in the "toothless" implementation by city authorities of the city ordinance that prohibits throwing of garbage and conducting activities harmful to aquatic life in the river.
In 2000, city ordinance 2000-018, authored by then city councilor Simeon Adan, was enacted to "establish control measures in preserving aquatic life [in] Naga River."
The ordinance prescribes appropriate penalties, and gives the Philippine National Police the power to apprehend violators.
It prohibits "throwing [of] any solid or liquid waste or dirt or refuse or dead animal into the riverbank or into the water surface of Naga River."
It also prohibits building of pipes of any kind or type that serve as outlets from kitchen or septic vaults that flow into the riverbank or surface.
Penalties range from P500 fine to P2000 fine and six months imprisonment.
Naga City environment and natural resources officer Oscar P. Orozco said the city government had strictly implemented the ordinance.
But he admitted that one of the biggest sources of solid and liquid wastes flowing into the river was the Naga City Public Market, which is administered by the city government.
"The canals that drain Gen. Luna Street and J. Hernadez Avenue, for instance, flow directly into the Naga River," he said.
Naga City Public Market is located in between the two thoroughfares.
According to him, however, his office had made it sure that solid wastes in the market were regularly attended by garbage collectors.
"Although ambulant vendors would leave behind waste materials long after garbage collectors passed by. These waste materials in turn would go to the river when the rains come."
To address the problem, he said the city government, in cooperation with United States Agency for International development (USAID), is setting up water treatment facilities to filter seepages from the public market, Balatas dumpsite, and Naga City Abattoir (slaughterhouse) before they flow into the river.
He said his office also had spearheaded regular clean-up activities in partnership with other government agencies.
In March, the Department of Labor and Industry released P500, 000 as emergency employment grant under its "Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged Workers" (TUPAD) program.
Thirty workers "displaced by the global economic recession" were employed to clean up the river.
In February and March, he said his office apprehended 38 individuals who were found violating city ordinance 2000-018.
Violations included raising hogs and constructing toilets without septic tanks on the riverbanks.
City Councilor Bernadette F. Roco, chair of the city committee on environment, said the city council could not amend city ordinance 2000-018 to impose heavier penalties to violators although it (city council) wants to.
"The ordinance already imposes penalties which are the maximum allowed for a local government."
Water quality
Orozco said they were investigating allegations that trawling vessels were spilling oil into the river. "If it is found out to be true, we will file appropriate charges."
In 1997, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources had placed the water quality of Naga River at D, and in 2006, it was upgraded to C.
Water quality is categorized into 5 classifications-AA, A, B, C, and D.
Class D means water quality is fit only for agriculture, irrigation, and livestock watering. Class C means water quality is fit for fishery, recreation, and supply for manufacturing processes after treatment. Class B means water quality is fit for primary contact recreation (e.g. bathing, swimming, skin diving, etc.)
Orozco said his office was hoping that through cooperative efforts, the water quality of the river, at least, would be B by 2015.
Preservation
Dela Cruz said that although most of the anglers in the river, especially the differently-abled, were fishing to while away time, many were doing it (fishing) because of poverty.
"They consume fish from the river although it is not so safe to eat because they are poor and they don't have the resources to buy fish sold in the market, which is safer to eat."
He said this is the reason why they had wanted to preserve the river. "It feeds city folks. Moreover, we want the next generation to still have Naga River."
Historic river
Naga River is the route of the traditional Penafrancia fluvial procession, which is the highlight of the annual Peñafrancia Fiesta in Naga City.
The once pristine river divided the old native settlement of Naga, and the then Spanish city of Nueva Caceres. It had served as a navigable waterway and fishing grounds for the two settlements.
It spans Naga City from its headwaters in the upper villages of Carolina, Pacol, Cararayan, and San Isidro, to its lower course in the 11 riverside villages in the city proper, and to its mouth at the Bikol River.