TACLOBAN CITY — Fishers of Barangay Baclayan, Daram Island in Samar no longer have to fish in the deep waters every single day to support their daily living as they discovered an easier and more sustainable way of making money through mussel long-line farming.

Mussel farming, which used to be a seasonal source of income for few fishers in Brgy.Baclayan, has now become the primary source of living of the many in its community.
The 40 members of the Baclayan Mussel and Crab Fishers Association (BMCA) can attest to this as they projected a P14,000-P70,000 per cropping earning from their long-line mussel farming.

This led to an annual production of 524 sacks or 36.68 tons of green mussels worth P700,000 out of the 95 lines installed within the waters of Brgy. Baclayan.

This was made possible through the provision of 240 rolls of PP rope, 4,000 plastic container jugs, 40 marine epoxy sets, 160 bags of cement, and 80 steel bars worth P2,051,120 of long-line mussel farming and installation materials from the Fisheries Coastal Resource and Livelihood (FishCORAL) Project in 2020.

BMCA also practices the use of coconut shells as spat collectors, a sustainable and beneficial method not only for the environment but also for the coconut farmers within their island who serve as their primary suppliers of these materials.

Mussel farmers of BMCA shared that they have used part of their earnings from their initial harvest to purchase additional long-line materials to increase their annual yield and upstart the mussel farming ventures of their family members who have been encouraged to try this mussel farming method.

From being able to pay for their daily needs and investing in more long-line modules in mussel production, BMCA fishers proudly shared that they can now afford to send their children to universities and chase their lifetime dreams, unbounded from the ties of poverty.

“Nakapaayad kami hin panalagudti han amon mga balay ngan an iba ha amon in nakakapagpa-eskwela na han ira mga anak ha college,” shared by Paulino N. Cueso, the BMCA president. (We were able to make minor renovations in our houses while some of us were able to send their children to college.)

“Nakakabulig an pagtahong pamalit-palit han amon panginahanglan ha amon mga panimalay,” Alan Cipra, one of BMCA’s top mussel harvesters added. (Mussel farming helps us buy our needs at home.)

Cueso and his members aired their request on having a floating guardhouse near their mussel farms as thieves occasionally steal their mussels.

They also wish to have a better boat that can be used during seaborne patrolling as illegal fishers frequently intrude on their area, leaving their long lines damaged.

Although faced with these challenges, the mussel farmers of Brgy. Baclayan still hopes that the BFAR and other government agencies will give their earnest support on the future expansion of their mussel farms to provide a dependable source of living for their entire community, lifting the lives of more fisherfolk families in Daram, Samar.

An association thriving and working towards not only their individual growth but also for their community, using a resilient and sustainable mussel farming method. This is the humble Baclayan Mussel and Crab Fishers Association.
(ROEL T. AMAZONA/BFAR-8)

TACLOBAN CITY-Paytaca, a bitcoin cash-focused financial technology (FinTech) start-up based here has secured another equity-free pre-seed funding worth P2.5 million this February 2023, following their “successful pre-seed funding” of P7.5 million in May 2022.
“We are flattered that the Bitcoin Cash (BCH) community has once again supported us,” said Aaron JP Almadro, Paytaca’s marketing director.

“The campaign was supposed to last 30 days, but it was funded in only five days! We have a lot of activities in store, especially onboarding more merchants where Paytaca users can use their BCH,” Almadro added.

The new funding will help the company in its ongoing marketing efforts and merchant adoption.

“We have a long list of updates to the wallet. Some are already being implemented and will be included in the next releases,” said Joemar Taganna, president and chief executive officer.

In mid-2018, Paytaca started as a fiat wallet app before it shifted to a cryptocurrency wallet in 2019 “due to steep capitalization and licensing requirements.”

The company’s research into cryptocurrencies led them to Bitcoin Cash, according to Almadro.

“Since then, we have been actively building to make it accessible and useful in real-world commerce,” he added.

In July 2021, the company released the prototype of its wallet app after several delays due to the pandemic.

Over 10 releases later, the Paytaca wallet became “a powerful, user-friendly open-source Bitcoin Cash wallet app.”

It is already used in countries like US, UK, Australia, Argentina, Nigeria, Indonesia, Germany, and France.

“Paytaca’s goal is to champion a bottom-up model of BCH adoption that has the potential to scale and become self-sustaining,” Almadro said.

“Paytaca is dedicated to making Bitcoin Cash accessible and useful in real-world commerce. The company’s recent funding, along with the successful pre-seed funding in May 2022, will help to further the company’s efforts in this direction,” he added.

Being at the forefront of cryptocurrency adoption efforts in Eastern Visayas, the company will soon expand to other parts of the Philippines.
(RONALD O. REYES)