STEPS in pulling the manipulated fish price in Bohol were set in motion as dialogs and consultations resulting in the establishment of the first “bagsakan” center for fish in Bohol. Governor Edgar Chatto bared this during his weekly radio program Friday, stressing that the recommendation for a unified bagsakan center surfaced following a technical working group's rigid meetings and discussions with stakeholders. He said his recent visit to northern Bohol showed that not all parts of the island was affected by the distorted market prices of fish as experienced in Tagbilaran and nearby towns. Chatto also defended fishermen whom several people accused of having a hand in the determination of the market price.

“In fairness to the fishermen”, Chatto said, “at landing sites, prices are not as high, as high as when it reaches the market”. Having told this, the governor hints that despite all production factors, a huge area to account is what happens between the landing traders and the market stall traders. With the TWG on fish seeing this same gap too, a recommendation to put up bagsakan centers to easily monitor and track fish price movements and production supplies is also set up.

The bagsakan centers were conceived to answer to the distortion of the normal fish supply and demand as supplies from Northern Bohol need not be sent to Cebu to get assured of a market, a TWG member said. The first bagsakan center opens with Bohol Diocesan Multi-Purpose Cooperative Inc., operating it, Chatto revealed. The bagsakan centers assure people of monitored prices and at the same time allow enough profits for traders but not after choking the Boholano consumers of their hard earned money, he said. The first bagsakan uses supplies from northern Bohol, which did not feel the tightening prices of fish in their area, Chatto added. Over all this, the TWG has started issuing fish prices daily from all over Bohol to discourage manipulation in price, according to the governor He also dreamed about making a way where fisheries stakeholders can source out fuel which are lower than the pump price, one that he could actually bring out in a meeting with the fuel companies' bigwigs in Bohol. (racPIABohol)