Republic of the Philippines

Province of Sorsogon
Municipality of Sta. Magdalena

FEASIBILITY STUDY
Project Information
Name of Sub-Project:

Construction of Municipal Fish Wharf

Location:

Poblacion 3, Sta. Magdalena,

Sorsogon

Beneficiaries:

427 poor fisherfolks households from the

coastal barangays of Sta. Magdalena; 3826
farmers, fisherfolks and workers/laborers;
2751 male and 1075 female;
Hon. Alejandro E. Gamos, CE
Municipal Mayor
Email Add.: donggamos2000@yahoo.com

Contact Person:

Brief Description of the Municipality

Sta. Magdalena is a fifth-class municipality of some 17,816 people, mostly
farmers and fishermen. It is strategically located at the southernmost tip of
Luzon Island, situated on the east side of the province of Sorsogon along 12.8
degrees longitude and 124 degrees 2 minutes latitude. The municipality is
bounded from the east by the San Bernardino Strait, from the north by the town
of Bulusan, from the west by the town of Irosin and from the south by the town
of Matnog. Sta. Magdalena is easily accessible by land via a 9-kilometer concrete
road linking it to the Matnog section of the Maharlika National Highway. The
town is 72 kilometers away from Sorsogon City.
Sta. Magdalena has a land area of 4,706 hectares or approximately 47 square
kilometres. About 97% of the municipalitys total land area is classified as
agricultural and 72% of which are planted with coconuts while the rest are
devoted to other crops like abaca, palay, root crops and woodland. The
municipality is predominantly a hilly to mountainous area. Such topography may
be a major factor to its poor development considering its inaccessibility to
agricultural production. The hilly nature of the terrain increases the erosion
susceptibility of the area particularly when vegetation is inadequate and farming
systems are not appropriate.
Problem Statement
The Community Based Monitoring System 2013 survey results showed that 45%
or 1813 of the 3,844 total households have income below poverty threshold. The
survey used the adjusted poverty line by the National Anti-Poverty Commission
which requires that a 5-member family must earn at least P8,778.00 a month to
be considered non-poor. In the survey, the barangay with the highest poverty
incidence is San Eugenio (58% or 128 out of 219). Most of the barangays have
more than 50% poverty incidence.
The farmers and artisinal fisherfolks (79% of labor force) are the poorest of the
poor in the community. The underemployment is one of the causes of poverty.
Out of 10,257 labor force, only 4,659 are employed (45%). 2,034 out of the
4,659 or 43% are underemployed mostly farmers and fisherfolks who must
aggressively look for additional work or sources of income to supplement their

meagre earnings.
But because the economic situation in the municipality is
sluggish, additional work is not always available. Many resort to working in other
places particularly in Metro Manila as household workers to augment income to
their households.
Outside supports include also the household heads or
members who are OFWs.

Proposed Solution
To achieve inclusive growth and poverty reduction, the local government unit of
Sta. Magdalena will follow the following strategies in the Philippine Development
Plan; 1) investment in public infrastructure, 2) livelihood programs and projects
for unemployment, and 3) attracting private investment.
The sector goal is to increase incomes of fisherfolks and their communities, fish
traders and input suppliers thereby contribute to reduction of poverty, enhance
food security and marine environment conservation and protection. The project
objective is to increase fish production by supporting artisanal fishers in the
project area by enabling them to catch, process and market fish more efficiently
through the provision of infrastructure such as the fish wharf.
Being a coastal town located nearby the rich fishing ground of San Bernardino
Strait, programs and projects of the local government are geared towards
fisheries and aquatic resources conservation, management and development.
The municipality has implemented various fishery-related livelihood projects
such as banca distribution, provision of fishing paraphernalia, fish aggregating
devices or payaws and artificial coral reefs.
The construction of fish landing wharf is proposed in order to contribute to the
sustainable livelihood of the fisherfolks with their enhanced access to fishing
opportunities and market.
Solution
compone
nts
Constructi
on of
Municipal
Fish
Wharf

How will
this
address
the
problem
-increase
income of
fisherfolks
;
sustainabl
e
livelihood
or
employm
ent

What are the

project
benefits?
To whom?

What and How will this

contribute to the
Municipal Development
direction?

What will be the

projected cost?
Where will this be
sourced out?

-service
facility for
artisinal
fisher folks
for fish
landing and
marketing of
fish products;

-the municipal fish

wharf will boost the
economic condition by
attracting investors
and providing
employment to poor
locals;
-poverty reduction and
food security

BUB DSWD 2014:

Php 5,325,000.00
LCC: 280,000.00
Total Project Cost:
Php 5,605,000.00

Project Description
The proposed municipal fish wharf for construction will consist of the following
facilities: 100 linear meters fish wharf, 65 linear meters rubble breakwater to
protect the landing area and moored fishing vessels in rough weather, it will be
later improved with the following, a quay along which to moor the boats when
unloading the catch, a slipway where the fishing vessels can be scrubbed,
painted and serviced, and various shore facilities.
There will also be areas of land reclaimed from the sea to provide space for the
activities associated with fishing and market facilities. The first phase will be the

construction of the 100 linear meters wharf or fish landing area and the 65 linear
meters breakwater with a total project cost amounting to Php 5,605,000.00.
Market/Demand Supply Gap
Through participatory approach, the Local Anti Poverty Reduction Team of Sta.
Magdalena has identified the promotion of fisheries sector as one of the main
strategy for increasing incomes of the rural poor situated along the coast,
employment generation, economic growth and community participation in
preserving the natural resources. The construction of the fish wharf has been
identified as one of the priority to improve the economic condition of the poor
fisherfolks in the municipality.

The proposed municipal fish wharf, when completed, will serve as the most
convenient landing site for fishery products from the San Bernardino Strait and
the adjacent Northern Samar and Masbate areas for delivery to various markets
in the Bicol mainland up to Metro Manila and Visayas Region. It will certainly
contribute to the economic growth of the locality into a vibrant trading ground
for the local fishing industry, especially when provided with support facilities, like
cold storage, ice plant, and fish-processing facilitya plan that the municipal
government will be pursuing with the help of Department of Agriculture-BFAR
and other public and private partners.
Technical
The project will be implemented by the LGU of Sta. Magdalena with the
assistance of the Local Poverty Reduction Action Team and the fisherfolks
beneficiaries lead by the MFARMC to promote transparency and inclusiveness.
The office of the Municipal Mayor will be the overall execution head that will do
the day-to-day management and coordination during the construction and
implementation. The project will use the existing committees such as the
Municipal Development Council, Bids and Awards Committee and LPRAT for the
coordination and oversight of the activities.
The procurement of civil works for the construction of the fish wharf will be
financed by BUB-DSWD 2014 with at least 5% counterpart from the LGU (P
5,605,000.00: BUB-DSWD 2014 (P 5,325,000.00) and LGU Counterpart (P
280,000.00)). The procurement methods will be in accordance to the rules and
procedures in RA 9184 or the Government Procurement Act. Competitive
bidding will be carried out to select the best contractor to construct the fish
wharf.
The project will be implemented over a period of six months. The project will be
launched immediately after the fund is downloaded to the LGU.

DSWD

Local Government Unit of Sta.

Magdalena
SB

LCE
LPRAT

BAC

MFARMC/CSOs

Sustainability

COA/NGAs

Engineering

Accounting

Agriculture

Planning

Treasurer

Economic
Ent.

The local government will manage the operation and maintenance of the
facilities through the Municipal Agriculture Office and the economic enterprise
office. The fish land and marketing operations will be under a section directly
supervised by the office of the Agriculture Officer and Municipal Mayor. The local
fisherfolks will be mobilized and organized for them to be capacitated in the
daily operation of the facilities.
The communities will be organized into committees by function such as planning
and management committees, womens committee and monitoring committee.
All committees will have equal gender representation. The purpose of the
different committees will be to participate in the planning and implementation of
the project thereby enhancing sustainability. The beneficiary communities will be
organized and trained to enable them to better manage the fish wharf, plan and
implement community development projects. Training of the members of
community in leadership, negotiation, and planning and decision-making skills
will also be conducted.

The project monitoring and evaluation will be the responsibility of the Municipal
Planning and Development Coordinator and the designated Monitoring and
Evaluation Officer for the project. They will periodically monitor the overall
implementation of the project.
The planning, engineering and accounting office will prepare work plans and
progress reports indicating physical progress and procurement activities and
expenditures, according to the requirements of DSWD. A project completion
report will be submitted by the LGU within at least two months of the end of
project implementation.
The local government unit will allocate funds from the GF and CDF for the
operation and maintenance of the municipal fish wharf amounting to at least Php
500,000.00. The economic enterprise will ensure the effective operation and
income generation of the facility. The local revenue code will be updated for the
tariff in the use of the fish wharf.
Project Safeguards
Environmental Impact Analysis
The proposed construction of municipal fish wharf will be situated in a dead coral
area in front of the town center. The live corals will not be affected but instead
it will be protected by establishing the sanctuary in the area. The breaker and
the landing area will protect the houses and institutional buildings from strong
waves during inclement weather.
The LGU of Sta. Magdalena has filed its application for Certificate of as the subproject is not covered by the Philippine Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)
System. The CNC shall be issued by the EMB Regional Office within 30 calendar
days of processing. A copy of an Environmental Management Plan (EMP) will also
be forwarded to DSWD to ensure that all activities undertaken are
environmentally sound.
In addition, the LGU of Sta. Magdalena was advised to secure a Certificate of
Legal Easement from the Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office.

During the construction phase, the Municipal Project Team, MFARMC, CSOs and
LPRAT will be involved in the monitoring of compliance to EMP and CNC
provisions. Training on environmental monitoring will be provided by the Project
prior to implementation.
Financial Analysis
The LPRAT and Sangguniang Bayan Resolutions have been submitted by the
LGU expressing its commitment to provide the required equity for the proposed
sub-project. The Municipality of Sta. Magdalena is classified as a 5th class
municipality, hence, a 5%-95% LGU/BUB-DSWD cost sharing scheme will apply.
The initial cost for the first phase of the construction of the fish wharf is P
5,605,000.00. (BUB-DSWD 2014 (P 5,325,000.00) and LGU Counterpart (P
280,000.00))
The Local Finance Committee of Sta. Magdalena has certified that it has
appropriated funds in its Year 2014 and Year 2015 budget as equity for the
proposed sub-project and other related BUB sub-projects.
Social Impact Analysis
The bulk of the fishing communities in the project area consist of low-income
families who live on fish caught or gathered near to the coast. Within these
communities, there are estimated to be over 500 fisherfolks households and
their families, who represent the primary beneficiaries of the project. In addition
to these, an estimated 50 fish traders plus a large number of fish processors,
boat builders, craftsmen and artisans, net makers and sellers and other
economically active groups within the coastal communities along the San
Bernardino Strait also stand to benefit from the project. Many families providing
labour during the construction of the project would benefit also.

Poverty will be reduced directly through the resulting increase in income of both
men and women. This will have a positive impact on reducing poverty.
The mainstreaming of gender and creation of womens associations and their
strengthening will provide fora for women to participate in issues of specific
concern to them. Specifically, women will benefit from self-empowerment and
greater negotiating skills in the community. They could avail themselves of any
of the livelihood opportunities related to the project such as fish processing and
marketing.
It is foreseen that through the development of the fishing and non-fishing
activities there will be a broad based economic benefit resulting in an
improvement of family livelihoods. The equitable allocation and access to
resources will increase production. The facilitation of transport for marketing of
increased fishery products will directly increase income. Other positive benefits
resulting from the project intervention will be the increased awareness on
environmental conservation, clean water and sanitation, and improved basic
community infrastructure.
Recommendation
The LPRAT recommends the approval of the proposed sub-project in lieu of the
substantial benefits that will be derived from its implementation. This is,
however, subject to the submission of any additional documents which may be
required by the funding agency.

Submitted by:

ALEJANDRO E. GAMOS, CE
Municipal Mayor