This is a story of two western Pangasinan towns which, years ago, both rejected multi-billion peso cement plant complexes proposed by international consortium of companies.

Bolinao and Agno made it to national and international map when their residents bitterly fought protracted wars against the factories that would have entombed in cement their scenic towns. They were not alone in the fight, though, as environmentalists and marine scientists from all over the country and even the world backed them up in shooing away the investors.

It was Bolinao – a town gifted with pristine beaches, caves, waterfalls, verdant hills, islands, crystal-clear rivers and eight thousand hectares of coral reefs in the Lingayen Gulf – which first caught the eyes of the foreign investors. The Tuntex Group of Companies of Taiwan and their Filipino and Japanese partners, proposed in 1992 a P13-billion peso package of a cement factory, a coal-fired power plant, a quarry area, a wharf and a 10-km conveyor belt.

Most residents were not swayed by the promises of employment and development of the proponents. They bonded themselves together and explained to their townmates what were at stake – the town itself and its God-given resources. They said "no" to the plant. The war lingered on for years until finally, on August 6, 1996, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources issued a rejection of the plant’s environmental compliance certificate (ECC).

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White. Red. Brown. Black. These are the colors of the mushrooms produced by the Balikatan Farmers Multi Purpose Cooperative (BFMPC) based in San Angel village in Rosales, an eastern Pangasinan town.

The members used to produce only the kabuting saging (native variety) and the oyster mushroom.

But Coop manager Venacio Abalos said that lack of dried banana leaves to grow kabuting saging ("the easiest variety to grow as it takes only 10-12 days for spawn to germinate") forced the members to shift to oyster mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus) and venture into bagging technology – making fruiting bags where oyster mushrooms grow.

The project was a successful one that the coop could hardly cope with the demand for the fruiting bags. "We produce an average of 4,000 fruiting bags and 3,000 bottles of spawn each month which we deliver to different towns of Pangasinan and other provinces," Abalos said.

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This comment came from Simon Francis Blaise R. Bistro, a fellow blogger.

Before bangus (milkfish) fish cage operator rush and exchange their
fish nets into bamboo poles for “tahong” cultivation. It would be
enlightening to read some facts about the said shellfish.

The Philippine green mussel or “tahong” as it is locally known is
the only species of mussel farmed commercially in some areas in the
Philippines. It is known scientifically as Perna viridis.

P. viridis is commercial important because of rapid growth rate and
high population densities (Rajagopal et al. 1997). The green mussel is
also a good candidate for cultivation because reproduction can be induced
throughout the entire year (Sivalingam, 1977; Coeroli et al., 1984).
The mussel can also be transplanted from one environment to another with
little adverse effects(Parulekar et al., 1982).

Salinity tolerance: The high growth rate of the green mussel is related
to high salinity and an abundance of phytoplankton(Chatterji et al.
1984). According to Sivalingam (1977), the bivalve has a 50% salinity
tolerance between 24 and 80 ppt. The green mussel has a high tolerance for
reduced salinities, increased survival during atmospheric exposure, and
high survival rates in turbid water (Morton, 1987).

Temperature tolerance: Chatterji et al. (1984), also demonstrated that
growth was significantly affected by temperature. According to
Sivalingam (1977), between temperatures of 10-35°C the green mussel is 50%
temperature tolerant.

The bivalve has also been used as an indicator of biopollution of heavy
metals, organochlorines, and petroleum hydrocarbons (Bryan, 1976).
According to Philips (1980), and IOC (1981), P. viridis is one of the best
mussel species to test for biopollution.

The impact potential of a species is expressed in terms of their actual
(or potential) impact to human health, economic and environmental
impacts. P. viridis has been categorised as one of ten potentially most
damaging species. The potential international target species are
prioritised by their location in the invasion potential/impact potential space.
P. viridis has been categorised as 'High priority'. (Hayes et al. 2005)

Threat to humans: They can be carriers of diseases and parasites
harmful to native species. P. viridis has also been recorded with high levels
of accumulated toxins and heavy metals and is linked to shellfish
poisoning in humans.

Personally, this is a cause of alarm rather than an applause for the
apparent economic benefits because “tahong” is not known to be
endemic in the waters of Bolinao. Their proliferation and species adaptation
in the area would mean that there is high pollution in the waters of
Bolinao (due to irresponsible Bangus fish culturing?).

The western Pangasinan town of Agno faces another environmental headache. More than a month ago, a barge carrying 4.6 metric tons of coal ran aground off the shore of this town, and residents feared the coal could spill out into the sea and wreak havoc on the marine environment.
 

On December 18 last year, a barge marked San Miguel Pilsener owned by Asian Shipping Corporation grounded off sitio Talisay in Macaboboni village. It came from the port of Semirara, Antique and was on its way to PNOC Exploration Corporation in San Fernando, La Union.
 

Macaboboni village is that beautiful place facing the South China Sea. It was the proposed site of a multi-billion peso cement plant complex proposed by Goldsun Corporation of Taiwan. The project did not push through because first, the residents opposed it. Second, the proponents were not able to introduce any development during the lifespan of the project’s environmental compliance certificate.
 

Residents told the local police that the barge docked because of strong winds, but the police who investigated the incident reported that the barge had ran aground.
 

Last Janaury 21, Inspector Leonardo Navalta, town police chief, inspected the area and found that some coal had spilled on the sea shore and “this could have caused the seaweeds to die.”
 

“It was possible that strong winds and big waves which topped the barge caused the coal to spill,” Navalta said.
 

Lydia Colobong, and environmental activist from the town, said the village boasts of white sand but bits of coal has started to mar the unspoiled scenery. The coal could also have caused the seaweeds in the area to die, and would eventually also cause the corals to die, too, she said.
 

Navalta observed that the shore looked like it was topped with black cement.  
 

“I have reported the incident to all concerned agencies and I hope they act fast,” he said.
 

The Philippine Coast Guard based in Sual and the agency’s marine environmental protection office based in La Union  conducted inspection in the area but it still has to make public its report.
 

A report of the Community Environment and Natural Resources Office in Alaminos City showed that the boat captain denied throwing coal and causing marine pollution.
 

Boat captain Norman Nueva, quoted by Cenro, said coal was an expensive mineral thus he cannot afford to throw it into the sea. He also he knew it can cause marine pollution, he said.
 

Eugenio Santos Jr. of the Cenro told the Inquirer that he will recommend to the vessel’s owners to take immediate measures to remove the coal from the barge immediately.
 

Nueva is reportedly working on floating the 1.5- ton vessel and had told the police that he was bringing tug boats to float it. He also told the police that he would have the coal hauled by trucks.
 

He also refuted reports that spilled coal caused the seaweeds to die. “The wave action caused by strong winds uprooted the seaweeds,” he claimed.
 

But Colobong said while it was true that waves caused by strong winds uproot seaweeds, “not this massive scale and the weeds float still alive, not dead.”
           
           
 

This was this party I attended some days back and among the really yummy food served was steamed shrimps – shells, heads, big eyes and all.  
“It’s vannamei,” a tablemate nonchalantly commented. I looked around for reactions.  None.  I continued eating, recalling a time — I think last October – when I brought some shrimps to a lunch meeting in Baguio City. A colleague in the writing profession thanked me for bringing several kilos of shrimps for the lunch. “Delicious,” she said across the table. “It’s vannamei,” I shot back. 
The colleague almost choked on the shrimp! And she almost choked me across the table!  “What?!!Why?!! When?!! Who?!! Where?!! This is illegal!”

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There’s a big hope after all, for the coastal areas of the country to recuperate from ecological problems that have rendered the bodies of water almost unable to regenerate their marine resources.
While the bays are in a vulnerable state, “there are bright prospects,” said Porfirio Alinio of the Univesity of the Philippines-Marine Environment Resource Foundation, Inc.(UP-MERF) which conducted the studies on the coastal waters for the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources-Fishery Resource Management Project.
Studied were the Lingayen Gulf in Pangasinan, Puerto Princesa and Honda Bays in Palawan and San Miguel Bay in Camarines Sur.

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The “tahong” (mussels) saves the day for this town’s bangus industry which is beset with problems like polluted waters and high cost of commercial fish feeds.
 

 Lawyer Virgilio Solis Jr., a bangus (milkfish) fish cage operator, said many operators have resorted to tahong culture because of several reasons such as the high cost of feeds and high cost of fingerlings.
 

Many operators could no longer afford the high cost of inputs and fingerlings while the market price of bangus is low so bangus culture is not very profitable anymore, Solis said.
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