SENATOR Loren Legarda emphasized that the lack of environmental protection programs in the country has posed threats on our very own survival, leaving many Filipinos hungry despite the abundance of natural resources.

Legarda, chair of the Senate committee on foreign relations, said the recent committee hearing on the agreement to establish the Office of the Worldfish Center in the Philippines revealed that environmental degradation has taken its toll on the country’s food stability, noting recent reports that the Philippines now imports galunggong.

“Recently, the SWS released its survey results showing an increase in hunger incidence in the country, and now there are reports that we are already importing galunggong. But 71% of the fish species in the world are found in the Coral Triangle and the Philippines is one of the six countries that form part of the area.  We are so rich, but why are we hungry?” the senator asked.

The National Fisheries Research and Development Institute (NFRDI) said that galunggong is one of the three major pelagic species captured in the Philippine seas, but due to overfishing and illegal practices such as blast fishing, the supply of galunggong gradually decreased, forcing the government to prohibit fishing activities in the Zamboanga Peninsula effective December last year.              Marlon Purificacion