BINMALEY, Pangasinan, Philippines—About 20,000 townspeople and visitors rejoiced last Feb. 2, 2010 as they enjoyed grilling fish products here and celebrated all night long in the first-ever Sigay Festival that aims to showcase this town as the Fishbowl of Pangasinan.
Lorna Grace Rosario, chairman of the fiesta executive committee, said she didn’t expect the overwhelming support of the people who trooped to the town proper to join the grand street party celebration which is the first to happen in the town’s 420 years of existence.
“I can’t say it was perfect but we tried our best to make the people really feel fiesta ambience,” she said.
She said the Sigay Festival is a brainchild of her husband, Mayor Simplicio Rosario, as a way of promoting the abundant fish supply in the town's sea, river and fishponds here.
She said the big difference of Dagupan City’s popular Bangusan Street Party every summer time is Dagupeños and their guests grill primarily bangus (milkfish) which is the city’s main product. In the Sigay Festival, the mayor’s wife said people grilled the town’s major fish products like bangus, siganid, tilapia, crab, prawns and shrimps that are abundantly grown and produced here.
“Palagay ko mukhang naglabasan lahat ng tao sa bahay nila (I think all people went out from their houses),” she said.
Sigay is a Pangasinan word that refers to fishing equipment or the process of culturing and catching fish.
Effect of no fish pens policy
Mayor Rosario said that when he assumed his post in 2004, he saw that lowly fishermen were deprived of their fish catch due to the proliferation of fishpens along the rivers here.
He later held dialogues among stakeholders and consequently implemented a “no fishpens policy”.
After sometime, fish supplies multiplied anew to the delight of lowly fishermen.
“The erason why I am so happy is because this is a celebration and a thanksgiving and to show the Philippines and the world that indeed Binmaley has abundant fish,” he said.
He added that 60 to 70 percent of the income of the town is from fishing.
“Maybe this is the start that Binmaley will be known not only in the Philippines ,” he said.
He said people jampacked in all the corners of barangay Poblacion where the street party was held and stayed on until dawn.
Quoting one balikbayan who joined the merriment, he said he felt like he was in Times Square, a major intersection in Manhattan .
Meanwhile, Chief Inspector Jimmy Agtarap, deputy police chief here, said it was a very successful celebration without any untoward incident recorded from day one of the nine-day fiesta celebration up to the Sigay Festival.
“Sobrang dami ng tao talaga. Siksikan sa kalye (There were really many people. The street was too crowded),” he said.
About 110 grill pads were distributed to all the 33 barangays and other government and non-government sectors plus establishment owners and balikbayans with one kilo each of bangus and tilapia. People brought more fish which they partook of during the night.
A fireworks display donated by former Cibac partylist Rep. Kim Lokin wowed the crowd.
Fish production
The town, with 2,759 hectares of fishponds devoted to bangus (milkfish) raising alone, makes it the number one in Region 1 in terms of aquaculture area with about 7,523.5 metric tons of bangus per year raised, according to Butch Ferrer, the town agriculturist.
This translates to about P752, 350,000 worth of bangus yearly produced here.
Aside from bangus, the town also raises the best malaga , prawns, tilapia, and oysters, Ferrer said.
There are 220 hectares of fishponds for malaga with yearly production of 113 metric tons while another 791 hectares are for prawns with 565 metric tons produced yearly.—Eva Visperas
Lorna Grace Rosario, chairman of the fiesta executive committee, said she didn’t expect the overwhelming support of the people who trooped to the town proper to join the grand street party celebration which is the first to happen in the town’s 420 years of existence.
“I can’t say it was perfect but we tried our best to make the people really feel fiesta ambience,” she said.
She said the Sigay Festival is a brainchild of her husband, Mayor Simplicio Rosario, as a way of promoting the abundant fish supply in the town's sea, river and fishponds here.
She said the big difference of Dagupan City’s popular Bangusan Street Party every summer time is Dagupeños and their guests grill primarily bangus (milkfish) which is the city’s main product. In the Sigay Festival, the mayor’s wife said people grilled the town’s major fish products like bangus, siganid, tilapia, crab, prawns and shrimps that are abundantly grown and produced here.
“Palagay ko mukhang naglabasan lahat ng tao sa bahay nila (I think all people went out from their houses),” she said.
Sigay is a Pangasinan word that refers to fishing equipment or the process of culturing and catching fish.
Effect of no fish pens policy
Mayor Rosario said that when he assumed his post in 2004, he saw that lowly fishermen were deprived of their fish catch due to the proliferation of fishpens along the rivers here.
He later held dialogues among stakeholders and consequently implemented a “no fishpens policy”.
After sometime, fish supplies multiplied anew to the delight of lowly fishermen.
“The erason why I am so happy is because this is a celebration and a thanksgiving and to show the Philippines and the world that indeed Binmaley has abundant fish,” he said.
He added that 60 to 70 percent of the income of the town is from fishing.
“Maybe this is the start that Binmaley will be known not only in the Philippines ,” he said.
He said people jampacked in all the corners of barangay Poblacion where the street party was held and stayed on until dawn.
Quoting one balikbayan who joined the merriment, he said he felt like he was in Times Square, a major intersection in Manhattan .
Meanwhile, Chief Inspector Jimmy Agtarap, deputy police chief here, said it was a very successful celebration without any untoward incident recorded from day one of the nine-day fiesta celebration up to the Sigay Festival.
“Sobrang dami ng tao talaga. Siksikan sa kalye (There were really many people. The street was too crowded),” he said.
About 110 grill pads were distributed to all the 33 barangays and other government and non-government sectors plus establishment owners and balikbayans with one kilo each of bangus and tilapia. People brought more fish which they partook of during the night.
A fireworks display donated by former Cibac partylist Rep. Kim Lokin wowed the crowd.
Fish production
The town, with 2,759 hectares of fishponds devoted to bangus (milkfish) raising alone, makes it the number one in Region 1 in terms of aquaculture area with about 7,523.5 metric tons of bangus per year raised, according to Butch Ferrer, the town agriculturist.
This translates to about P752, 350,000 worth of bangus yearly produced here.
Aside from bangus, the town also raises the best malaga , prawns, tilapia, and oysters, Ferrer said.
There are 220 hectares of fishponds for malaga with yearly production of 113 metric tons while another 791 hectares are for prawns with 565 metric tons produced yearly.—Eva Visperas
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