DAGUPAN CITY—Local officials in coordination with stakeholders of the milkfish industry, are bent on adopting a protectionist policy here in a move to protect the Dagupan bangus, the chief agricultural product of this city, which is now facing threats from all sides, including various market forces.

This was gleaned in a dialog conducted on Sept. 21 by the Sangguniang Panlungsod with milkfish dealers called “consignacion” to generate their suggestions and recommendations on what better measures to take so that the Dagupan bangus will not be unfairly treated when it reaches the markets.

The dialog was spearheaded by vice mayor Belen Fernandez, SP chair, along with councilors Alvin Coquia, chair of the SP committee on agriculture, Jesus Canto, and Redford Erfe Mejia.

They are now hammering a proposed ordinance that could set up a sort of built-in control mechanism that could limit the number of days that milkfish originating from other places would be sold in the Dagupan Fish Market.

Officials proposed to set just two days in a week for milkfish originating from western Pangasinan to be treated in the Dagupan Fish Market whereas, locally-grown bangus, which is more superior in quality and taste, would be sold daily.

For its far better quality when cooked in any kind of recipe, not present in the other milkfish produced in other areas, the Dagupan bangus enjoys a kind of superstar status, anywhere it goes, may it be at Nepa Q Mart or the Malabon market, and therefore is priced better than the rest.

Fernandez, whose family is also into bangus farming aside from mall business, said traders from as far as central Luzon come to Dagupan, not to Bulacan and Pampanga, just to buy bangus harvested from the fishponds of the city.