Walk down to any landing wharf along the Iloilo coast before sunrise. You can see it in the posture of the men tying up their outriggers. The sea is running a fever. The bancas are coming back empty. We finally have the numbers to prove it. In 2024, Iloilo’s municipal marine fisheries production plummeted by 44 percent. Across Western Visayas, small fishers lost nearly a quarter of their yield. The regional catch dropped from 96,307 metric tons to a dismal 73,125.

When the sea boils [Editorial]. (2026, October 6). DailyGuardian, p. 4.