Tambuling Batangas Publication May 01-07, 2019 Issue | Page 5

OPINYON
May 1-7, 2019
Save fish stocks from effects of El Niño
By Gene V. Baquiran
WHILE fish farmers in Region
2 worry about the possible
damages of El Niño to their
existing fish stocks after PAG-
ASA declared dry spell since
last quarter of 2018 to last until
August of this year with a 75
percent probability, the Bureau of
Fisheries and Aquatic Resources
(BFAR) provide operators some
mitigation measures to save their
stocks from loss due to possible
occurrence of fish kill.

El Niño, which caused
massive fish kill in Magat Dam
and other areas for the previous
years has caused trauma among
pond and cages operators after
they loss hundreds and even
millions of pesos.

While minimal report
reached the fisheries office on
damages caused by El Niño on the
fisheries industry, BFAR said this
is not a reason to relax and that
any calamity will still be a major
setback on the part of individual
fish farmers.

Mitigating the effects of
El Niño

In order to mitigate the
effects of El Niño, officials of the
BFAR advise farmers to be guided
by the following activities:
1. strictly follow recommended
stocking density for semi-
intensive fish culture;
2.
frequently monitor water
parameters, have back-up water
pump and maintain water level at
one meter;
3. observe stocks for mortality.
Forced harvest if stocks are
already marketable in size;
4. fish cages should be situated
in at least five-meter water depth;
5.
install shading such as nets
or floating aquatic plants such
as kangkong or water lily, on
Fighting chance for cancer patients
WHEN 66-year-old widow Gertrudes
Calderon was diagnosed with Stage 2
breast cancer in May 2013, she feared
the treatment costs more than what
the disease will do to her body.

Calderon, at that time,
works as “kasambahay” — her only
source of income for their daily
needs.

“Natakot ako noong una
kong nalaman dahil sa aming anim
na magkakapatid na babae ako
lang ang meron. Nagkusa lang ako
magpa-checkup nung nakapa ko na
may bukol at mula sa maliit na bukol.
Lumaki na ito pagdating ng Hunyo
(I was scared when I first learned
about it because among us six sisters
I’m the only one who has it. I went
to have a checkup when I felt a lump
in my breast and from a small lump.
It became bigger in June), she told
Philippine News Agency (PNA) in an
interview.

According to the latest
data from the Philippine Statistics
Authority, cancer is the second cause
of death among females and males in
2016 nationwide at 60,470.

Health Secretary Francisco
Duque III, in his speech at the First
National Cancer Patient Congress on
April 8, said cancer death toll for both
adults and children is around 66,000
and there are 110,000 new cases
diagnosed yearly.

Duque said the Department
of Health (DOH) recognizes the
burden — emotional and financial
– that cancer patients face, that
it is why the agency continues to
provide medical assistance programs
in its hospitals and selected local
government hospitals, where the
public can get free diagnostics and
other medicines for cancer.

“(The) DOH offers free
breast and cervical cancers screening
for women 25 to 55 years old, and
medicines, therapies for those who
have cancer,” he added.
Cancer treatment cost

Calderon said she almost
lost hope when she learned that she
needed surgery, which would cost her
hundreds of thousands.

“Sinabi ko sa mga
doktor na wala akong pera para sa
operasyon at may mga tumulong sa
akin maipasok ako sa Ating Dibdibin
Foundation noong July at naoperahan
ako ng September nang matapos ang
mga clearance na nilalakad ko (I told
the doctors that I don’t have money
for the surgery and someone helped
me to become a member of Ating
Dibdibin Foundation in July and I
was operated on September when I
finished the necessary clearances),”
she added.

Calderon’s right breast
was removed to keep the cancer cells
from returning, her doctors said.
“Sinabihan ako ng mga doktor na
kailangan ko ng chemotherapy,
PHP120,000 daw iyon, pero nang
sinabi ko na wala akong pera, pina-
interview lang ako sa DOH at hindi
nako nagbayad gaya ng iba. Wala
akong binayaran kahit isang gamot o
session, ang natatandaan ko lang na
binili ko ay dalawang karayom dahil
nabali iyong karayom na ginamit sa
akin (The doctors told me that I need
chemotherapy, it costs PHP120,000,
but when I said I have no money I
was interviewed by DOH and I didn’t
pay for it unlike others. I didn’t pay
any single medicine or session, I
remember buying only two needles
because the needles used on me
broke),” she said.

Calderon added that the
Philippine Charity Sweepstakes
Office provided for all her medicines
for five years while the DOH supplied
her with tamoxifen, a medication for
breast cancer patients, for two years
and a half.
NICC, UHC laws

Duque said cancer patients
can now receive quality health care
without financial hardship through
the National Integrated Cancer
Control (NICC) Act and Universal
Health Care (UHC) Law, adding that
both aim to ease the financial burden
of cancer patients and their families
by providing assistance for the early
detection of the disease.

“Cancer care and prevention
begin with the establishment of strong
primary health care systems which
enables early diagnosis, coupled with
the social safety net which provides
sufficient financial coverage. This
complements of the NICC Act which
utilizes mechanisms for the state
to control quite complex treatment
conditions of adult and childhood
cancers,” he said.

With the NICC Act,
Duque said the DOH has intensified
the Philippine Cancer National
Control program, which includes the
establishment of 24/7 cancer centers
in various DOH hospitals nationwide
and continued provision of free
medicines for breast, childhood and
colorectal cancers.

“Recognizing that our
resources are limited we commit
to its judicious use through the
institutionalization of the health
technology assessment and price
negotiation processes. This means for
us to afford more conditions we’ll be
benchmarking our reimbursements to
the most cost-effective protocols,” he
added.
More fighting chance
Meanwhile,
Cancer
Coalition of the Philippines president
Paul Perez said more cancer patients
will have a fighting chance through
the NICC Act, regardless of their
status in the society, through
sustained medication and reduction
of “treatment abandonment”.
a portion of the pond. This will
help lower pond temperature and
act as shelter to counteract fish
predation;
6.
increase dissolved oxygen
(DO) level by using baffles at the
water inlet. Additional water-air
contact will increase DO level;
7.
effective microorganism
(EM) can be used to suppress fish
kill and improve water quality;
and
8. small plants such as banana,
cassava and papaya can be
planted on pond dikes to hold soil
and prevent erosion during heavy
rains. These will also keep dikes
moist during dry season.

There’s really a need to
be vigilant

According
to
the
extension chief of the BFAR
here, Dr. Severina Bueno, there’s
really a need to be vigilant
while operators need to train
their caretakers, particularly
those who are still newbies in
fish culture, to be observant on
the behavior of their stocks and
observe the abovementioned
recommendations to prevent
further damage.

While the bureau offers rehabilitation support to damages,
there is a must for operators to
provide damage report to their
municipal agriculture office.

For Mang Isagani,
a fishpond operator for more
than 20 years, severe weather
conditions greatly affect his
production.

“Fish culture is like
gambling, if today you lose,
tomorrow you win, it’s better to
do something than to do nothing”,
he said.

But for Mang Albert
who mastered his craft for more
than 30 years, the secret to
become successful fish farmer is
to keep going even if you meet
failures along the way.

Mang Albert said the
best thing to do is to share not
just your resources but your
knowledge. “Share and God will
multiply it a hundredfold,” he
added.

Bueno assures fish
farmers of their support. She said
BFAR has its research stations in
every province and they welcome
any client who seek for help on
fisheries – related matters.

“Cancer patients and their
families can look forward to life’s
journey with new hope, especially
the underprivileged, since they’ll
now have better access to equitable
and affordable cancer treatment and
care,” he said.

Perez also underscored the
importance of the law in boosting the
efforts of various cancer awareness
groups that are promoting cancer
care, which include early detection,
treatment, prevention and access to
palliative care.

On February 14, President
Rodrigo R. Duterte signed into law
Republic Act 11215 or the NICC Act
which institutionalizes a “national
integrated” program to control
cancer.

Under the new law, the
DOH is tasked to provide early and
sufficient access to cancer medicines
and “ensure highest possible chance
of survival among people with
cancer”.

The law also created the
cancer assistance fund, which will
support the cancer medicine and
assistance treatment program and
mandated the Philippine Health
Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth)
to expand benefit packages for all
types and stages of cancer.

Meanwhile, signed into law
by Duterte on February 20, the UHC
law makes all Filipinos members of
PhilHealth, either as direct or indirect
contributors, providing immediate eligibility and access to preventive,
promotive, curative, rehabilitative
and palliative care for medical,
dental, mental and emergency health
services.

“Sa mga kababaihan na
gaya ko, huwag po kayo matakot
dahil maraming natutulungan ang
DoH na may cancer, gaya ko na
walang binayad kahit piso. Huwag
kayo magpapabaya at suriin ninyo
ang mga sarili ninyo bago lumala ang
maliit na bukol (To women like me,
don’t be scared because DOH helps
a lot of cancer patients, like me who
didn’t pay a single peso. Don’t neglect
yourselves and observe yourselves
before a small lump becomes big),”
she said.

After six cycles of
chemotherapy and five years of
medication, Calderon has been
declared cancer-free and is now
enjoying her life with her daughter
and grandchild.

“Sixty-six years old na ako
ngayon, trese kaming cancer patients
na naoperahan noong 2013, ako na
lang ang natitirang nabubuhay sa
amin. Nagpapa-bone scan ako, every
six months nagpapa-X-ray ako at
ECG ako dahil kailangan pero lahat
walang bayad (I’m 66 years now,
we were 13 cancer patients who had
surgery in 2013, I’m the only one
left alive. I undergo bone scan, every
six months I have X-ray and ECG
because it’s needed but all of them
are for free),” she said.
President Rodrigo Duterte interacts with young cancer patients at the Southern Philippine Medical Center Children’s Cancer Institute
on 10 August 2017. (Presidential photo)