Fish farming extra income for mining firm employees

MANILA, Philippines — The Valencia Regular-Seasonal Workers Association (VARSWA) composed of employees of Cagdianao Mining Corp. (CMC), a subsidiary of Nickel Asia Corp. (NAC) in the province of Dinagat Islands, collaborated with the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) and the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to embark on a fish farming project for extra income for employees.

BFAR provided the trainings, DOLE provided the farm inputs and CMC provided other logistical and operational funds including the cover for the cost of the Norwegian cage, estimated at P800,000 including accessories, which was sourced through the mining company’s yearly Social Development and Management Program (SDMP) budget.

VARSWA has about 50 members, all regular-seasonal employees of CMC. The mining company assisted in forming this people’s organization and provided seed capital.

Sherrie Ann Cardoniga, enterprise development and livelihood coordinator, community relations department, explains that the role of CMC is to guide the members of VARSWA in order that they efficiently manage the project until it becomes sustainable so that they run it themselves without intervention from the mining company, which is the essence of the SDMP programs.