There was this story of a school girl whose baon every school day was a cup of rice sprinkled with patis or fish sauce. That was all her parents could afford, the story on social media said. The basic Filipino diet is rice and fish. Fish and fish products provide the bulk of protein for more than half of all Filipinos when they eat. Galunggong or scad was the poor man’s fish when I was growing up. But today, the poor can no longer afford galunggong. It is now imported.

Chanco, B. (2022, November 16). Rice and fish. The Philippine Star, p. B3.