The Beach Lovers of Sorsogon

Faye Gonzalez

If you’re searching for pictures of beaches, look no further than your Facebook feed. The combination of summer and modern technology has spawned the habit of taking pictures of ourselves sunbathing, waddling in pristine waters and sipping fruit shake on a scorching afternoon. Who can blame us when the views are so picturesque? We are loving it! Rarely do we ask though how nature stays so pretty that it constantly begets our love. It’s time we take notice that the reason why a lot of beaches are safe, clean and captivating for both sea creatures and land critters is because there are people who have taken this loving to a higher notch.

In a quiet subdivision in Sorsogon City rests the quarters of Coastal Core Resources, Inc. It is a simple house that was turned into an office in 1994 to be the local chapter of Tambuyog Development Center, an NGO that pushed for communities’ right to primary access, use and management of their coastal resources as declared in the Philippine Fisheries Code of 1998. The Tambuyog unit eventually matured and in a spin-off in 1994, it became Coastal Core Resources, Inc. Since then it has been managed by true blue Bicolanas and Bicolanos and remained independent of its mother Tambuyog.

Coastal Core is faithful to the original mission to empower coastal communities to be responsible stewards of Mother Nature. What is most manifest here is that the protection of nature and advancement of the welfare of the people go hand-in-hand. More than that, they are empowered to exercise their right to push for their needs to be prioritized in the formulation of plans and programs of their respective local governments.

“Bago kami magsimula ng project, kinakausap muna namin ang mga tao sa komunidad, kagaya ng mga mangingisda pati mga opisyal ng barangay,” (Before we start a project, we speak first with the people in the community, like fishermen and barangay officials.), Shirley Bolanos, Executive Director of Coastal Core, said. When a community gives its go signal for their entry, that’s when they invite individuals to participate. “Pero una, tinatanong muna namin sa bawat sasali: (But first, we ask to every participant:) Are you willing to undergo the process?”

The process she spoke of is no joke. Those who want to work with Coastal Core form a self-help group. They are made aware of laws pertaining to their rights over their natural resources. That the municipal waters—those within a 15-kilometer radius from the shoreline—are theirs to manage is a truth that Coastal Core aspires to continuously reawaken the locals to. The goal is really for the people to be able to bring their agenda to the table. “Gusto namin na sila mismo ang maghikayat sa gobyerno na mag-invest sa karagatan, lalo na na bihira gawin ng gobyerno ’yun,” (We want them to convince the government to invest in the aquatic resources, especially that the government rarely does it), she said.

Paolo Jarilla is a 35-year-old fisherman, farmer and handicraft weaver in Barangay Salvacion, Bacon district, Sorsogon. Paolo is also the president of a self-help group that has been actively linking with the barangay officials.  “Marami rin kaming naiambag sa barangay. Sa pag-plano sa Disaster Risk Reduction, kasali kami. Nasa batas din kasi na lahat ng people’s organizations, may karapatang sumali sa mga aktibidades ng barangay,” (We have contributed a lot to the barangay. In planning for Disaster Risk Reduction, we are involved. It is also in the law of all people’s organizations, there is a right to participate in the activities of the barangay.), Paolo expressed. He felt blessed to have witnessed the personal growth of his self-help groupmates. “Iba talaga ‘pag nakikita mong tumataas ‘yung kumpyansa ng tao sa sarili niya at kaya na niyang kumausap sa iba.” (It is really different when you see the increasing level of self-confidence of the person and he/she can already talk to other people.)

Coastal Core continues to provide livelihood training because depending on just one type of livelihood does not produce enough income for the whole family. In fishing, there are days when the catch is scarce, a reality more potent in the age of climate change. In communities Coastal Core was able to reach, one discovers that the people are not just fishers—they are farmers, vendors, cooks, and handicraft weavers sometimes all at the same time. It is amazing how a situation of deprivation can turn itself around and catalyze for change within and outside of themselves.

Imelda de Palma, 57, is from Barangay Bato in Sorsogon’s Bacon district, another Coastal Core project site. She is a mother of six children, two of whom go to elementary school, where she is a volunteer trash-segregator. She is also a fish vendor and a farmer. The changes that have been felt in her barangay since Coastal Core offered to help had not escaped her. “Bawat household natuto mag-segregate ng basura. Dati, kahit saan nagtatapon sila ng basura. Nung tinulungan kami ng Coastal Core, ngayon marunong na kami mag-segregate ng basura sa bahay pa lamang.” (Every household learned to segregate trash. Before, they would throw trash anywhere. When Coastal Core helped us, we already know how to segregate trash even at home.)

Happily, she shared her learnings.  “Dati ‘yung mga nabubulok, tinatapon lang namin. Ngayon, nagiging fertilizer, nilalagay sa tinataniman namin. Kapag ang gulay, sarili mong tanim, ‘di ka gagamit ng kemikal, ito’y walang masamang epekto sa katawan.” (Before, we would just throw the biodegradables. Now, they become fertilizers, we put in our plants. When you plant your own vegetables, you would not use chemicals, this does not have a harmful effect to the body.)

In 2005, things began to look a bit different for Coastal Core. Shirley recounted how, in a visioning workshop attended by the organization’s staff and community leaders, they raised concern about their falling income. This turned out to be a symptom of a larger problem. Slowly, Coastal Core saw through it and realized that the people had issues to resolve within themselves and their families— and these were beyond an arm’s length of any successful livelihood program.

Coastal Core moved to facilitate sessions where the men and women got to know themselves and each other. The unit of self-help then became the family. “Pagkaraan, sinasabi na nila sa amin na nakakahinga na sila nang maluwag dahil napag-usapan na nila ng mga asawa nila ang kanilang mga issues, katulad ng pagsusugal, pag-iinom at nagging,” (After a while, they are telling us that they can already breathe freely because they have already sorted out their issues with their husbands/wives, like gambling, drinking and nagging.), Shirley said.

Coastal Core is deeply appreciated by the local communities for their successful efforts to inform the latter of their rights, instill in them a profound respect for nature, encourage them to engage in a healthy dialogue with their families, and insist that they push for their community agenda in the halls of the local government.

The rewards have been immense, too, for the officers of Coastal Core.

“Rewarding para sa akin ‘yung nakikita mong nag-grow talaga sila, pag nagiging mas confident sila. Sulit ‘yung hirap at pagod,” (For me, it is rewarding when you see that they have really grown, when they become more confident. The difficulty and effort have paid off.), Shirley said with a look of merry wistfulness on her face. Maila Quirino, a Project Coordinator for Coastal Core, said that she will be happy when the time comes that the people will no longer need their services. “Ibig sabihin noon, okay na sila, hindi na nila kami kailangan.” (That would mean, they are already okay, they no longer need us.)

The people of Coastal Core and their friends in Sorsogon are, for me, the genuine beach lovers. They have taken loving the beach to taking good care of the whole: the communities and their entire dwelling

So the next time we see a picture of a beach on Instagram, the least we can do is to remember these heroes for the environment and thank them simply by never littering again. 

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After graduating from Ateneo de Manila University in 2011 with a degree in Communications, Faye became a Jesuit volunteer assigned in Eastern Samar. She joined the government workforce at the Philippine Commission on Women the year later. Faye is currently in the advertising industry.