WBA enhances skills from cultural to technical diving

(L to R) Mr Noor Saada, MILAB project manager talking with Sama divers
in between the latter's SCUBA dive exercises. 

Zamboanga City (November 26, 2021) – Among the participants of the ongoing WBA dive training this week are participants from the Sama ethnic group and including Nomer Manisan (Aquaculturist II) and Komonie Janalhatib (Community Affairs Assistant) of Sumisip and Ramil Pakkari (Statistician) of Hadji Muhtamad. The Sama people are a maritime ethnic group that is spread across the Zamboanga Peninsula and the Sulu Archipelago in the southern Philippines. In Basilan, they are found in the island municipalities of Hadji Muhtamad and Tabuan Lasa and along the coasts of the mainland municipalities. 

Their swimming and diving skills are passed down from one to another generation, from the elder to the younger, from the fathers to the sons. Sons start with frog swimming, homemade goggles, and in the nude. As they become adolescents, they are still shirtless, but with underwear or shorts by this time. They can swim further and dive deeper mainly to catch fish and other sea products they can sell for livelihood. As they dive deeper, they use stones as sinkers and rope for signal. They also use compressors to be able to dive deep. They resort to deep diving in order to catch highly-prized species, such as kamun (sea mantis), kaulang (lobster), lapu-lapu kubing (leopard grouper), and bat (sea cucumber).

The Sama participants lament the beginning loss of indigenous knowledge especially on safety, prevention, and mitigation from the kaomboan (elders) as fewer among the new generation Sama youth venture into traditional fishing in favor of other non-sea livelihoods and for greener pastures. Partly because of this loss, repeated dives had made many of them oblivious to the dangers of abrupt ascent and absence of safety stops, changing underwater current, decompression sickness, and nitrogen narcosis, which through time and frequency had been accepted in the community as part of the hazards of seeking livelihood from the sea; without realizing that these can be prevented with safety and proper training.

For the past five days, Sama trainees Nomer Manisan, Komonie Janalhatib, and Ramil Pakkari were exposed to the proper techniques of swimming, diving, and finning; as well as the rudiments of SCUBA diving. Nomer says, he now realized the value of suits. He has come to appreciate the importance of safety beginning with proper breathing, being alert about the environment. He saw that diving can be safe and fun simultaneously if proper prevention, pre-planning, and rules are observed.

Ramil expresses his observation about the importance of weights and sinkers which greatly stabilizes the diver's position underwater. He likes now the ability to swim and dive comfortably and with balanced. Komonie notes the crucial points of having a dive buddy and sign communication underwater. With this new ability, he shares that diving can be comfortable knowing that they have prepared safely and had ways to continue communicating underwater. 

They are in agreement that their exposure to the ongoing training enhanced their pre-existing swimming, diving, and finning skills, and importantly, showed taught them safety measures, and mitigative measures, to avoid dangers and stay on the safe lane. 

The WBA 7-day dive training they are part of is delivered by the ZSCMST Dive Center and CMAS Philippines. WBA is the first inter-LGU cooperation in Basilan Province and is being capacitated by the Spanish aid agency AECID-funded MILAB 2 Project, implemented by the Institute for Autonomy and Governance (IAG) in partnership with the provincial and selected municipal governments.

ZSCMST President inspires WBA dive trainees

ZSCMST President Prof Dr Jaime G. Jalon reflects on his past experiences about Basilan before the pandemic. He considers Basilan his second home. He urges participants to seize this rare opportunity.(Photo credit: ZSCMST Media Team)

Zamboanga City (November 23, 2021) – Participants from the Western Basilan Alliance (WBA) municipalities of Hadji Muhtamad, Lantawan, Maluso, and Sumisip, and the Basilan Provincial Government, convene today for their 7-day dive training and 3-day training on participatory coastal resources assessment (PCRA), from November 23 to December 3, 2021, here in the city. Each WBA municipality and the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist is allotted four (4) trainee-slots, plus two (2) trainee-slots for the WBA Dive Shop.

WBA AMO manager Mr Zia Ulhaq Basa welcomes the participants and expresses his gratitude to the MILAB Project and to ZSCMST for supporting their alliance through this training program. As mentioned by Mr Basa, this training program is delivered in partnership with the Zamboanga State College of Marine Sciences and Technology (ZSCMST) through a memorandum of understanding signed with the Institute for Autonomy and Governance (IAG). Leading the ZSCMST management team in the opening program today is no less than its President, Prof Dr Jaime G. Jalon, together with Prof Arthur Panganiban, Director for Research and Development and Prof Marlon Omatang, Director for Training and Extension Services.

Also part of the management and leading the 11-person training team is Prof Dr Oliver Tito, Dean of the College of Fisheries and Marine Sciences and concurrent Vice President for Research, Innovation and Extension Services. Other members of the training team present in the opening program are Victoria Lim, Chairperson of the Chemistry Department; Angelo Macario, Masters in Fisheries Management Program Adviser; Annie Gonzales, Marine Biology Program Adviser; Kathleen Dalope, Fisheries Program Adviser; Rolando Pelingon, Faculty, College of Fisheries and Marine Sciences; and Kent Anthony Enocita, Dive Associate, SCUBA Center. Assisting Dean Tito and Head of the SCUBA Center is Raymond Antonio Lim.

In his inspirational message, President Jalon expresses his consideration for Basilan as a second home and how he yearns to be back again. He is also optimistic about this partnership and urges the trainees to “make the most of it”, to seize this rare opportunity afforded to the participants by the AECID-funded MILAB Project. He urges participants to feel free to interact with the ZSCMST training team, and he reminds the former how he had freed them from their school obligation for the duration of this training in order to respond positively to his second home's needs to build competencies on diving and coastal resources assessment so that these local government units can be proactive in developing and implementing their coastal resources management (CRM) plan. He reminds everyone that we are still in a pandemic and the need to observe health protocols is ever urgent and compulsory as he believes health is a treasure that everyone should value all the time and that the Covid-19 virus is ever-present in our midst.

Prof Omatang delivers the first part of the training overview and how the ZSCMST team is happy to support this WBA initiative. Dean Tito delivers the second part of the training overview. He reminds participants that while the training team will have flexibility, there are also rules and standards to be observed. The training will be a combination of lectures and confined and open water practicum. The 7-day dive training will end with a CMAS assessment and certification, while the 3-day coastal resources assessment will end with practicum and data analysis. After the opening program, the participants proceeded to the pool area for the preliminary water skills assessment. Participants demonstrated to the training team their initial capacity to swim and float.

Ms Sheila Tan Acquiatan, MILAB Project Coordinator, orients the participants on house rules including the need to observe health protocols for the duration of the training program. The project booked a larger venue with a pool nearby, with several French doors which can be open from time to time to allow for fresh air to circulate. The project also distributed health kits consisting of face masks and alcohol. All the participants applied through the S-PaSS entry requirements to get into Zamboanga City and this training program, following these stated protocols, is also authorized by the Zamboanga City DRRMO.

WBA is the first inter-LGU cooperation in the Basilan Province and is being capacitated by the Spanish aid agency AECID-funded MILAB 2 Project, implemented by the Institute for Autonomy and Governance (IAG) in partnership with the provincial and selected municipal governments.

WBA prepares for Dive and PCRA training with ZSCMST

 

Photo: IAG, MILAB and ZSCMST officials posing for a group photo after a meeting on their Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to support the Western Basilan Alliance (WBA) through capacity building and technical assistance interventions. (L to R) ZSCMST Dive Center Manager Prof Raymond Lim, IAG Director for Planning Sheila Algabre, MILAB Project Coordinator Sheila Acquiatan, IAG Executive Director Atty Benedicto Bacani, ZSCMST President Dr Jaime Jalon, ZSCMST Vice President Dr Servando Halili Jr, MILAB Project Manager Noor Saada and ZSCMST Dean of the College of Fisheries and Marine Sciences Dr Oliver Tito. 

Isabela City, Basilan (November 17, 2021) – The Western Basilan Alliance (WBA) composed of the municipalities of Hadji Muhtamad, Lantawan, Maluso, and Sumisip, and supported by the Basilan Provincial Government, is scheduled to undertake a 7-day dive training and 3-day training on participatory coastal resources assessment (PCRA), from November 23 to December 3, 2021, in Zamboanga City.

These two trainings will be delivered by a composite team of marine science experts from the Zamboanga State College of Marine Sciences and Technology (ZSCMST). This was made possible through a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed by ZSCMST and the Institute for Autonomy and Governance (IAG). IAG is the managing contractor for the AECID-funded Modelling Inter-LGU Alliance in Basilan (MILAB) that is capacitating and supporting the WBA.

Atty Benedicto Bacani, Executive Director of IAG and the managing contractor of the AECID-funded MILAB Project, is happy to see this partnership slowly moving forward. IAG has built a reputation around local governance and alliance building, and with ZSCMST expertise in coastal resources management (CRM), he expects exponential benefits for the WBA. He is optimistic that the institutional commitment and resources of IAG and ZSCMST reflected in the memorandum of understanding will help WBA realize its vision of a peaceful and prosperous Western Basilan founded on good governance and a sustainable economy.

MILAB manager Mr Noor Saada explains that diving is a foundational skill for participatory coastal resources assessment and PCRA is a preparatory mechanism to develop CRM plan required of every LGU in the country. He added that the 11-person ZSCMST team will be a composite of professors and professional divers and the two trainings will be a combination of lectures, confined water, and open water skills development, and fieldwork on socio-economic, mangroves, seagrass, coral and reef fishes, and water quality and plankton assessment drills. Participants will also undergo assessment and certification by CMAS Philippines as basic divers. The fieldwork is slated to be undertaken inside an ancestral domain area of Sama Bangingi' who have been preserving and promoting their area as an eco- and culture-based tourist spot.

WBA is the first inter-LGU cooperation in Basilan Province and is being capacitated by the Spanish aid agency AECID-funded MILAB 2 Project, implemented by the Institute for Autonomy and Governance (IAG) in partnership with the provincial and selected municipal governments.