Navotas Fish Port, the "fishing capital of the Philippines” will continue to operate amid the rising cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the city, Mayor Toby Tiangco said on Friday.
According to Tiangco, this became possible as authorities and the fish port management are “very cooperative” with the local government when it comes to complying with the observance of health protocols.
“Very cooperative po yung Fish Port authority sa city government. Kasi alam natin at least 10,000 people a day ang pumapasok diyan (The fish port authority is very cooperative with the city government. We know that at least 10,000 people go there everyday),” Tiangco said in an interview with DWIZ.
The mayor said they cannot halt the fish port’s operations as doing so will affect the supply of fish in the metropolis.
“Hindi naman natin pupwedeng ihinto ‘yan dahil syempre kailangan nga maging mura ang bilihin, lalung-lalo na sa panahon na hirap yung ating mga kababayan (We cannot stop its operations because we need to help in reducing the prices of basic goods, especially now that a lot of our people are struggling),” he said.
Tiangco said minimum health protocols should always be observed inside the port to minimize the risk of virus transmission.
“Ngayon peak fishing season, yung summer months, so kailangan lang talaga tuloy-tuloy yung pagsunod sa health protocols (Summer is the peak of the fishing season. So, we just need to keep following the health protocols),” he said.