The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) headed by Director Asis G. Perez launched the National Program for Municipal Fisherfolk Registration (FishR) in Western Visayas on February 18. According to Director Perez, the FishR program aims to fast-track, enhance and complete the municipal fisherfolk registration nationwide in accordance to the Fisheries Code of 1998. He further disclosed that prior to the implementation of the program, there were only about 40,000 registered fisherfolks in the BFAR database - a number which is far from their target of 1.6 million.

Escopel, R. (2014, February 21). Registration program for fishermen launched. Panay News, pp. B1, B9.