Do Not Disturb

As I said in the last blog post, May has come and gone, and there hasn’t been a moment to rest. Manggahan ended with a fireworks show and disco on Sunday night. I was determined to stick it through the end but then make it to flag-raising at my office the next morning. Having been out of the office for nearly 4 straight weeks, there was plenty of catching up to do back in the office. Plus with our schedule of activities rapidly approaching, there was a lot to be done. On top of everything, the presence of the municipal town fiesta that Wednesday made getting back into the swing of things all the more difficult. Not that I could complain about a fiesta.

On Tuesday, I met Riro and Dennis from PBSP, an-NGO we work with from time to time, in Alibhon to buy the remaining materials for the buoys for our Marine Protected Area as well as a piece of plywood for our MPA floating billboard. That afternoon, we delivered the materials to Tando. After work, the fiesta began when Bayoto promised to buy “one bottle” of beer. That number quickly increased, especially when the Municipal Councilor on Fisheries and Agriculture joined us for a few drinks. After many more rounds, Riro and I walked back to his place for a quick power-nap. Riro never woke up, but I made it back for some beers, first with the mayor and some municipal employees, then some of the Philippines National Police officers (who were busy watching over the dance floor) and finally with two of my friends who work in the Municipal Engineering Office. One of them left the LGU and moved to Guimbal (Elliott’s site) to work as a motorcycle driver. He makes significantly more money driving a motorcycle than he did working as a government employee.

On fiesta day, the office was solely for meeting up with everyone, not for work. We had many different houses to choose from and decided to eat lunch at the house of my coworker, Tita Elena. Afterwards, a couple of us went to Mario’s for lunch number two. Mario’s sister and brother-in-law had lots of people over, and we spent some time hanging out and drinking there. Since I had my laptop on me, we decided to watch a movie together. We chose The Expendables. Later some of my other friends from work came (Luzel, Ritchel and Bayoto). We had a few beers and there were back to the plaza to find a place to eat dinner. We decided to keep it simple and return to Tita Elena’s house. Denise joined us, and after dinner we all made our way to the Tarabuan. We had some beers, played some bingo, and even invited two Mormons to join us for a short while. Of course they weren’t drinking, but it was one of my first time talking to them in such a casual setting. The two Mormons who joined us were finishing up their two-year stints next month and were looking forward to getting back home. Besides that they’re American and living in the Philippines for two years, our experiences couldn’t be more different, but it is always nice to talk to people with such different perspectives.

Hanging out at Mario's before watching the Expendables. Cultural exchange, right?

The "highlight" of the Nueva Valencia fiesta.

We did it again! This time the winning ticket was Ritchel's, but I was the one who played the winning card.

Sumsuman on Ritchel!

Riro and Nini

Mario's son was ready to party

 Work the following Monday was focused on preparing for the deployment the buoys for our MPA and the launching ceremony scheduled for the following Friday. The buoy deployment went off pretty much without a hitch, and it was a big milestone for the work we had done.   

Moving the jacsktone sinkers to the shoreline. These things were heavy gid!

Showing up to Tando in the morning with about 15 community members already hard at work was a very good feeling. They decided to use the rope to use the weight of the tree to lower the jackstones into the water. Definitely not something I would have thought of.

Our buoys and jackstones ready to go!

Tan-Luc MPA

With the GPS in hand, navigating the boat to the proper location of the MPA boundary 

Heading to the next spot after deploying the buoy

Opening up the shackles to attach the rope and buoy to the sinkers

The launching celebration of the Tan-Luc MPA had been in the works for months, and we were hoping that it’d be a big success. Riro and I decided to go to Tando the night before to help set everything up. By the time we got there, the Barangay Captain was already busy orchestrating the construction of a huge tent for the launching, outside the elementary school.

That evening, we decided to have a film showing that evening in order to educate as well as entertain the kids and also to hype up the launching event. We showed an episode of BBC Blue Ocean, which my PCV friend Dan meticulously had dubbed over in Tagolog, and then we showed Finding Nemo. We got a lot of adults there too watching the BBC film. So many of the educational materials they watch are in English, so it was a nice opportunity for them to watch something in a Filipino language.

Then Friday, May 11 was the day we had long been waiting for. We had ordered enough snacks for about 200 people, so thankfully we had a good turnout. After 175 people Barangays Tando and Lucmayan showed up for the event, and we had another 20 or so guests from the municipal government and provincial government. 

Kids watching BBC Blue Planet the night before the MPA launching underneath the Tando Barangay Hall

It was a drizzly night, but many adults decided to stay and watch. Here is Riro squating Filipino style 

The front & back covers of the pamphlets that we distributed 

The program of activities

Maria Elena, teacher of the Tando Elementary School and barangay kagawad, leading in the national athem

Give an impromptu message regarding the location of the MPA in Ilonggo. 

Neil and Rose Jane of the provincial environmental office showing their support and munching on some Filipino spaghetti

Honorable Vice Mayor Ma. Luz Pabalan giving an address. This was my first event that I've been to that she's attended as well.

Me and my girl Cap Emma

The scene of the event, with Cap Emma talking about the Tan-Luc MPA. She likened the fish inside the protected area to a couple on their honeymoon: do not disturb. 

Members of the Tan-Luc Management Committee, municipal officials, and our poster design competition winner posing in our new Tan-Luc t-shirts

Nong Glenn, a fisherrman in the barangay, signing the "Tan-Luc pledge"

In short: we are responsible fishermen. We will not fish inside the Tan-Luc MPA. We will do our part to improve the natural resources and respect the MPA for the benefit of future generations. 

Nong Marlon unveiling the Tan-Luc MPA poster at the MPA site

The event was a huge success, and it was a great feeling to have gotten to this point. Establishing this MPA is something we’ve been working on since last August, and we’ve done a lot of work to get to this point. Our work isn’t over. In many ways, it’s just getting started. But to have this marine protected area formally established is a great feeling for me and as well as the community. The people here have been suffering from a near-constant decline in fish catch for the past 30 or so years but even more dramatically since the oil spill that affected this area in 2006. Now there is hope that something they, the people, can do will improve their situation. It’s exciting and empowering, and I hope that after I leave in 6 months the Tan-Luc MPA will continue for a long time in the future.