The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) expressed on Monday its support for the bill pushing the office to be a department.
BFAR spokesperson Nazario Brigue said that House Bill No. 1977, 19th Congress, or an Act Creating the Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, authored by Kabayan Party-list Rep. Ron Salo is a 'positive development.'
"We are happy that we have more allies in Congress who are really advocating for the institutional capacity of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources to be expanded," he said in a radio interview.
"Last week, we were with Cong. Ron Salo talked to our fisherfolk leaders, and one of the things they talked about was the resolution of our fisherfolk leaders to promote BFAR to become a department," Briguera added.
He said that when the BFAR becomes a full-fledged department, they hope to have an increased budget, enabling them to expand their programs to more Filipino fishermen.
"Aside from that, of course, if the institutional capacity of BFAR is wide, our technical personnel will be increased," Briguera added, saying that currently there is a lack in terms of the technical capacity of some local government units that implement the government's programs for fishermen.
"If the BFAR becomes a department, more technical personnel will be added to support our LGUs," he added.
Moreover, Briguera said that one of the problems of the bureau that needs to be addressed is that most of the technical experts are soon to retire.
Meanwhile, Salo said that the House Bill proposed will help in maximizing the Philippines' potential in the blue economy.
"This is a huge part of the economy that can really help our fellow citizens," he said.
"We have around more than 5 million fisherfolk in the Philippines, and if we look at it, our water resources are really vast."
The lawmaker said that when talking about agriculture, it does not include the fishery sector because agriculture pertains more to developing land resources.
"The fisheries are separated, but if we sum them up, what can be contributed by water resources to the economy of the Philippines is really big, and yet it is still not given proper attention. This is the standpoint of our fishermen," Salo said.