NEWSFLASH

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FISH RETURN TO PAMPANGA RIVER

Apalit, Pampanga, Oct 30, 1997 - Fishermen in Pampanga and Bulacan are once more catching fresh water prawns and tilapia in the waters of the Pampanga River.

Just two months after the closure of two fermentation plants dumping pollutants into the water, the Pampanga River is already teeming with life. The Pampanga-Bulacan Fisherfolk Association has so far been the major beneficiary of the resuscitation of the river.

Aurora Sumulong, spokesperson of the fishing group, said the members are having a heyday harvesting "ulang" and tilapia as well as the native "ayungin" which had not been seen in Pampanga for many years.

Closed two months ago were the Central Fermentation Industrial Corporation and the Far East Alcohol Corporation, which the Department of Environment and Natural Resources had found to be pouring toxic waste into the river system for two decades. Losses from the fish and prawn industries were estimated at P2 billion.

A recent move to hoodwink the residents into allowing the re-opening of the plants involved the announcement that the molasses from which the alcohol is extracted could be used as fertilizer, and the effluent from the factories would be dumped into lahar-covered Pampanga rivers.

Mayor Wilfredo Alvarado opposed the moves, and advised the factory owners to move their business out of the two provinces. "The recent tactics are deceptive and nothing more than a palliative. We will not allow a repeat of our twenty years of hardships."

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