Beside 4k fuel card beneficiaries

BFAR starts PAFF distribution

to 10k small fishers in Bohol

TAGBILARAN CITY Bohol (PIA)—Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) may not have any special funds for mitigation against the incoming dry season with the El Niño already starting, however, the agency has started the distribution of P2,325 to 10,485 fisherfolks.

Called the Presidential Assistance to Farmers and Fisherfolks (PAFF) according to BFAR Bohol Fisheries Officer Candido Samijon, is a it is a national government financial assistance program which provides direct cash aid to farmers and fisherfolk who have suffered income or production losses due to natural disasters, adverse weather, pest and disease outbreaks, and the economic crisis that has shaken the economic foundations of the country, and has affected agri-fisheries.

Aimed to provide immediate relief to affected farmers and fisherfolk and enable them to resume farming and fishing activities to protect livelihoods and support the country's food production and food security the national assistance had BFAR bohol getting P24,377,625 for the distribution, according to BFAR Samijon.

Set for marginal Bohol fisherfolks with registered pumpboats or paddle boats, the assistance however excludes those who, during the past months, have received the BFAR fuel subsidy program.

The Department of Agriculture-(BFAR) has provided a targeted PHP 3,000 fuel subsidy to eligible municipal fisherfolk.

Distributed through fuel discount cards or cash vouchers, the program helps small-scale fishers cushion the impact of rising global oil prices on their daily operations, BFAR explained.

For fisherfolk organization members registered under the Fish’R program, owns a small marginal motorized banca for fishing registered under Boat’R and fishes using legal fishing gears and good environmental practices, the fuel subsidy granted some 4,356 Boholanos fuel cards with P3,000 of fuel value.

With a program roll-out in March his year, the program alone has infused some P13,068,000 into the local economy, which is also helping the general community recover from the harsh effect of the Middle East crisis.

To be fair, we allocated the PAFF to those fisherfolk who did not get the fuel subsidy, Samijon said at the weekly Kapihan sa PIA.

Beyond the assistance programs that fisherfolk are now using to make both ends meet, BFAR has also partnered with them for the assurance of aquaculture fish stocks during the El Nino and beyond.

Under the BFAR regular programs, the agency has readied and has linked with local government units for the availment of aquaculture projects to supply for the much needed fish for consumption during the clutch months of drought.

For availment as soon as LGUS can show ready areas for aquaculture are 1,000 tilapia fingerlings for a minimum of 200 square meters of fishpond, 13 bags of feeds and a sure technical support from BFAR fisheries technicians.

Also, BFAR has programmed for the release of high density polyethelene (HDPE) fish cages which can be placed in rivers and marine areas for bangus and other high value commercial crops.

Samijon said they have shifted to HDPE from bamboo cages as these have proven to be disaster resilient compared to the bamboo.

“We have strived to make out structures as resilient as we have seen in the past years that typhoons are becoming regular and are much stronger,” the fishery official shared.

BFAR has recorded some 4 metric tons of harvest from the initial HDPE projects that they released in 2025.

From these projects, along with some help from FISHCoRE and catch fisheries, BFAR believes there would still be fish available during the El Nino season in Bohol. (PIAbohol)

WITH PLGU BOHOL. BFAR has pushed for aquaculture in fish cages that tend to have better chances of surviving the El Nino than over ponds that dry out without rains. This HDPE fish cage of Loay is placed in the Loboc river and gets the regular technical monitoring by fisheries technicians and the OPA, according to reports. (PIABohol /OPA)