In more than 30 years of navigating the West Philippine Sea, a fisherman from 𝑆𝑎𝑛 𝑆𝑎𝑙𝑣𝑎𝑑𝑜𝑟 𝐼𝑠𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑀𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑙𝑜𝑐, 𝑍𝑎𝑚𝑏𝑎𝑙𝑒𝑠, named 𝐑𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐞 𝐃𝐫𝐢𝐨, 56 years old, has long been central to both his livelihood and his way of life.
On Jan. 28, Drio formally joined the 𝐏𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐆𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐀𝐮𝐱𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐫𝐲 (𝐏𝐂𝐆𝐀) at the Peoples Development Institute Alternative Development Center in Barangay Bulawen, alongside fellow fishers from Zambales, Bataan, and Pangasinan who have 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 in the 𝐖𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐏𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐒𝐞𝐚. The ceremony was headed by the Spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea, 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐨𝐝𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐉𝐚𝐲 𝐓𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐚.
For Drio and others, joining the PCGA allows them to give back by sharing their maritime knowledge to 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐬, 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐮𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. Their involvement highlights growing collaboration between 𝐜𝐨𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 and 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 to safeguard the seas for future generations.
