Tolentino flags absence of Marina satellite offices to streamline fishing permit processing
By Dhel Nazario
Sen. Francis "Tol" Tolentino called out on Thursday, Oct. 12, the lack of Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA) offices near fishing villages that make it hard for fisherfolk to secure boat permits.

During the hearing of the Senate Special Panel on Maritime and Admiralty Zones chaired by Tolentino, he stated that fishermen are having a hard time securing fishing vessel certificates.
According to Michael An, one of the 11 fishermen who survived the fatal maritime collision near Bajo de Masinloc on October 2 since there is no satellite office in Zambales and document processing takes a long time, forcing them to go back and forth to Marina's office in Manila.
The senator also discovered during the hearing that Filipino fishermen who fail to comply with Marina's certification requirements suffer from confiscation of fish harvests.
“Kawawa naman iyong mga mangingisda, kukunin lahat pati banyera dahil walang certificate (I pity those fishermen who lose all their fish because they have no certificates),” Tolentino said.
For his part, Marina Enforcement Service Officer Atty. Benedicto Manlapaz denied that such confiscations transpired.
“We are not condoning any of these things, especially to our fishermen,” Manlapaz remarked.
Tolentino urged the fishermen to file a formal report of such instances to the Senate Maritime Zones Committee for appropriate action.
“Dapat lumapit kayo sa mga mangingisda. Wala na tayong isda, nag-aangkat pa tayo ng isda, tapos kayo naman pinapahirapan ninyo yung mga mangingisda (You should be the ones to go to the fishermen. We have no more fish, and we're importing fish, and you here are giving fishermen a hard time)”, Tolentino told Marina.
He stated that the root of all of these is the difficulty in securing a permit because the agency does not have satellite offices.
Marina, likewise, expressed its willingness and commitment to work closely with fisherfolk to address the said issues.