Antique: Antique's capital town has requested the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Western Visayas for a gratuitous special use permit (GSUP) for the upgrading of the over PHP284-million fish port. San Jose de Buenavista Municipal Economic Enterprise and Development Officer Darcy Bungay said in an interview on Tuesday that the GSUP will allow the local government unit (LGU) to use the 9,606-square-meter foreshore area for five years for the construction of the fish port causeway and pier free of charge.

According to Philippines News Agency, for the past three years, the LGU has been paying the DENR PHP1.8 million per year as a miscellaneous lease of the foreshore area where the fish port upgrading project is being implemented. Bungay noted that the foreshore area, being a marine resource and a public domain, is owned by the government. Since the fish port upgrading project groundbreaking on Sept. 30, 2024, the LGU has been paying the miscellaneous lease.

Bungay mentioned that the LGU has an ultimate plan to lobby for a Presidential Proclamation declaring the fish port as an agricultural port, which would permanently relieve the LGU from paying the lease to the DENR. The fish port upgrading, funded by the Department of Agriculture-Philippine Rural Development Project, is expected to be completed by May. The upgrade will enable commercial fishing vessels to dock, transitioning the facility into an agricultural port.

As part of their request for a GSUP, a biodiversity and underwater assessment was conducted on Jan. 29 at the San Jose de Buenavista fish port by the DENR and Philippine Coast Guard divers to determine if the marine resources in the applied foreshore area are not being impacted by the causeway and pier construction. Bungay reported that the divers' initial assessment indicated no coral reef formation had been affected by the construction. The LGU is awaiting the official assessment report from the DENR, expected to be issued before the end of this month.