CTK Donates 14 Fishing Boats for Pawa, Capiz Fisherfolk
Last March 2, 2017, in a simple turnover program at the Parish Church of San Nicolas de Tolentino in barangay Pawa in Panay, Capiz, the Christ the King parish representatives – Henry Tañedo and Peter Banico of EMHC, and Ben and Linda Famador of the Stewardship Committee – with parish priest Fr. Jocel Fara-on as witness, formally gave away 14 Niberglass boats with outboard motors to 14 lucky Pawa Nisher families.
In 2015, to celebrate the Year of the Poor and Christ the King Parish’s 10th Anniversary of being a Stewardship Parish, Christ the King Parish embarked on a very ambitious program ‘Stewardship: Mission and Gift: Reaching out in the Year of the Poor’. The program included 10 outreach projects for the poor based on the Catholic Teaching on the Seven Corporal Works of Mercy.
Each outreach project was managed by an organization designated by the Parish Pastoral Council. The Eucharistic Ministers of Holy Communion, or EMHC, then headed by Henry Tañedo, was tasked to oversee the outreach project for the Fisherfolk, with barangay Pawa, represented by the San Nicolas de Tolentino Parish as the beneficiary.
The Parish of San Nicolas de Tolentino is located in Barangay Pawa, Panay, Capiz, a small coastal community of around 50 fisher families dependent on fishing for its primary livelihood. Helping the fisherfolks acquire their own fishing boats would dramatically increase the chances of a successful livelihood program for their families. CTK entrusted Father Jocel to identify 20 local fisher families as the first beneficiaries of fishing boats. As a further screen, those identified would have to be church-going.
A further background check however revealed that some individuals had undesirable behaviors and habits, e.g., drinking, gambling, etc. so the list was whittled down to 15. There was one withdrawal so only 14 boats were turned over.
Peter Banico shared his insights. “Each of us had a chance to address the beneficiaries and their families. Each talk focused on the subject of God’s gifts and how it should be used. We reminded them not to use the boat for illegal activities, specifically on dynamite fishing or cyanide fishing. As this was a gift from CTK parishioners, they were not allowed to sell or pawn off the boats or motors. We expected that each one of them would be an active parishioner of San Nicolas de Tolentino. And as a way of giving back, they were expected to donate to a fund that Fr. Joel would oversee which would be dipped into for emergency fuel , unschedule d maintenance, boat replacement, or acquisition of additional boats for newer families. At that point, Father Jocel emphasized that the fisher families should approach the parish first whenever they were in need, instead of going to money lenders who charged exorbitant rates.”
Father Jocel started the turnover ceremony with a prayer and blessing of the bancas and their 5.6 hp motors. All boats had markings painted across them “Stewardship: A Way of Life” on the front-side of the boat and “Christ the King Parish, Greenmeadows, Quezon City” on the back-side. Each boat and motor were numbered from 1 to 15. To ensure fairness, beneficiaries drew lots to determine which boat and motor they received (one to 15), with the drawing of lots presided over by Ben & Linda Famador. The physical turnover of each boat and motor was handled in turn by Henry and Peter.
