II. PARANG, MAGUINDANAO
The province of Maguindanao used to be part of the former lone province of Cotabato. Maguindanao became a province by virtue of Presidential Decree 341 issued on November 22,1973. It is bounded by the Province of North Cotabato In the east, the lllana Bay in the west. Sultan Kudarat in the south, and Lanao del Sur in the north. The province includes 17 municipalities and 424 barangays spread over its 5,425-square kilometer area. Seven (7) municipalities are classified as sixth class municipalities, six as fifth class, and only four are considered fourth class municipalities.
The 1980 census ranks Maguindanao as the 30th most-populated province nationwide, with the males slightly outnumbering the females. Maguindanao is the mother-tongue of more than two-thirds of the population (68.8 percent); then in other-tongue of the rest are Cebuano (7.1 percent), Tiruray (5.8 percent), Kongo (4.8 percent), and Maranaw (4.2 percent).
parang is one of the fourth class municipalities in the province of Maguindanao. It is bounded by the municipality of Matanog in the north, the province of Sultan Kudarat in the South, lllana Bay in the west, and the municipality of guidon in the east. Parang is divided into 18 barangays. The 1980 census placed its population at 45,994. With a land area of 14,600 hectares, the municipality has a population density of 3.15 persons per hectare. The domestic trade of the province is done mainly through the Polloc Port which is located in Parang. One of the major industrial establishments of the province is the Sarmiento Industries Incorporated (SII) which mainly produces plywood.
Parang is one of the most important fishing centers in the province. Its 3,685 fishermen account for 75 percent of all the fishermen in the province. Its 2,487 fishing boats account for 75 percent of all the fishing boats in the province. The province has nine (9) fish processing establishments, seven (7) of which are located in Parang.
Barangay Magsaysay is a coastal barangay of the municipality of Parang. Except for the areas near the seashore, the terrain is rolling so that it takes a tricycle about ten minutes to negotiate the one-and-a-half kilometers that separate the barangay from the Poblacion. The 1975 census placed the population of the barangay at 1,985, and the number of households at 323. The barangay captain places the current (1982) figures at 3,318 and 538, respectively. The three (3) major ethnic groups in the barangay are the Cebuanos (60 percent), the Maguindanao (20 percent), and the llongos (15 percent), who together account for 95 percent of the total population.
The two (2) major religions espoused by the population are Catholicism and Islam. Each group has its own place of worship. However, while the Muslims have a resident religious minister, the Catholics do not. Their religious needs are served by a priest who resides at the Poblacion.
The barangay has a complete elementary grade school, and until 1964, it had a high school. Now high school students have to go to the poblacion for their schooling. Electricity is supplied by the Maguindanao Electric Cooperative (Magelco). While the barangay has water supply, its people also rely on rain water. Serving the health needs of the residents are one midwife, three hilots, and four barangay workers. Those who need the services of a doctor have to go to the poblacion or to Cotabato City which is 27 kilometers away from the municipality of Parang. Professional services such as those of lawyers and accountants have to be sought in the poblacion or in the city since none of the barangay residents offer these services. Other services, however, like that of a barber, beautician, tailor, seamstress, and photographer are available in the barangay.
The most common commercial establishment in the barangay is the sari-sari store of which there are 15. There are also three restaurants, one bakery, four depots: Caltex, Petron, Mobil and shell; and one lodging house. There is no drugstore though sari-sari stores sell medicine like Medicol, Cortal, Aspirin, etc. for common ailments.
Although newspapers are not sold in the barangay, the residents could get them from the poblacion. A total of 26 households have television sets which receive programs from two TV stations. A greater proportion of the households own the less expensive portable transistorized radios. For recreation, the barangay has one basketball court and four billiard halls. There is also gymnasium under construction.
The barangay is small and so does not require local transportation facilities. Transportation to the poblacion is provided by jeepneys and tricycles. Though the distance is short (1.5 kilometers), the fare is P0.75 because of the terrain. It takes about 15 minutes to negotiate the distance. Transportation to Cotabato City, which is 27 kilometers away from the Poblacion, is provided by jeepneys. The trip lasts about 45 minutes and its fare costs P3.50.
Most of the residents of Barangay Magsaysay live on fishing. Of the 538 families, 460 or 85 percent, depend on fishing as their main source of livelihood. There are 139 fishing boats in the barangay, or an average of one boat for every 3.31 families. A total of 86 of these boats are motorized; the rest are powered by paddle, sail, or both. The majority of the boats are operated by the owner themselves. Most of them are not large enough for deep-sea fishing. There are five big ones which could, however and each of them has a crew of at least 20 fishermen.
The fishermen use a variety of fishing gears among which are basnig, gill net, bamboo coral, hand net, line and hook, pana, and baling. Although fishing is a twelve-month activity, the months of July to December are considered by many fishermen to be the peak period and January to June as the lean period. The reason why the latter is considered lean is that the climate is hot during these months. While some fishermen sell their catch through middlemen, other prefer to do the selling themselves. Fish caught in Barangay Magsaysay eventually find their way to the public market of Parang, Cotabato City, and the neighboring towns.
Profile of the Fishermen
Most of the respondents (90 percent) are married, relatively young, and have only an elementary education. Their mean age is 35.5 years while the ages of the middle 50 percent range from 27 to 42. Ten of the 16 who have gone beyond grade six have some years of collegiate education. Close to three-fourths (73.6 percent) of the fishermen were born in Mindanao, the majority (72 percent) were born in the municipality of Parang. All of those who reported birthplaces outside Mindanao claim^l to have been born in the Visayas. A good proportion (41 percent) of the fishermen reported their present barangay as their place of birth. Residential lot ownership is low; only 23 percent said they owned the tot where their house is now standing. The average number of years the fishermen have been living in their present residence is over 23 years. Nevertheless, the middle 50 percent have been living in their present residence from 13 to 32 years. Catholicism and Islam are the two religions most of the respondents claimed they belong to (74 percent and 21 percent respectively). Cebuano, Maguindanao, and llongo are the ethnic groups which make up more than 90 percent of the respondents (58 percent, 19 percent, and 16 percent, respectively). The fact that 21 percent of the fishermen claimed Islam as their religion when only 19 percent claimed to belong to the Maguindanao ethnic group suggests that conversion of a Christian to Islam is more likely to occur than the conversion of a Muslim to a Christian.
Majority of the fishermen (57 percent) live in duplex houses, while more than a quarter (28 percent) live in single-unit homes. The houses that are made of strong construction materials are generally in a poor state of repair, while those made of light construction materials are generally in good state of repair. A full 45 percent live in houses with Gl roofing and either wooden or cemented walls. While 18 percent of the fishermen live in houses with nipa roofing and walls of either nipa, cogon, or bamboo. The number of rooms per house ranges from 1 to 4, with about 2 as the average. Slightly more than three-fourths (77 percent) of the fishermen own the houses they live in. However, hardly a third (29.9 percent) own the lot their houses are built on. Of the 77 fishermen who are not lot owners, only one admitted to paying rent. In effect, a good number of them are squatters.
Despite the availability of electricity from the Maguindanao Electric Cooperative in the locality, only 14 percent of the respondents use electricity for lighting. The remaining 86 percent use kerosene. The majority (97 percent) use wood for cooking; two of the remaining three use LPG, and the last one use kerosene.
Around a third of the fishermen own dining sets, sale sets, and beds (32 percent 33 percent and 27 percent respectively). The radios owned by 61 percent of the respondents appears to be a common household possession. Television sets and refrigerators – being electricity-dependent and relatively more expensive and more dispensable — are rarer possessions; only four percent said they own a television set, and two percent own a refrigerator.
Perhaps because the respondents are mainly fishermen, livestock raising is not a popular activity. The only domestic animals reported raised by the fishermen are chickens and pigs. The number of chickens owned by 21 fishermen ranges from one to 23 with each of them owning seven on the average. Pigs are owned by more fishermen (30 percent), with each of them having two pigs on the average.
The regular meal of the respondents consists of rice and fish. Instead of eating rice breakfast, however, a few fishermen eat bread. With reference to the week before the interview, only one fisherman admitted to having an egg for breakfast. Meat consumption is also relatively low. Though present for lunch on the tables of 76 fishermen, vegetable is not served for supper. Eighty percent of the respondents said they have, however, regular snacks. Since the fishermen normally do not pay for their fish in cash, the only big expense they incur for food is that for rice. The average weekly expenditure for rice is P45.00 ; average
Fishing Activities imputed expense for fish consumption is P44.40 a week.
Of the household members who are between 10 and 64 of age, 156 are working. The number of working household members per household ranges from one to five, with only one member employed for most households (64percent). Only one fisherman said there are five employed household members. The average number of working members per household is two persons. Of the 156 working household members, 84.6 percent are engaged in fishing, and barely 0.6 percent have a secondary job. As the 100 households involve a total of 608 members, or an average of 6 members per household, each employed household members, or an average of 6 members per household, each employed household member has to support, aside from himself, three other individuals.
The mean annual income per household from fishing activity is P8,781.82. This amount, however, is widely distributed among the fishermen as the standard deviation is P10,115.32. The income of the middle 50 percent ranges from P4,800 to P8,400 while the median income is P6,000. The mean non-fishing annual income of the 25 households with members engaged in non-fishing economic activity is P3,098.40. The non-fishing income raises the total average annual income of the fishermen by P774.60 to P9,556.41.
The majority of the fishermen have a safe source of drinking water. Sixty-five percent of the households have piped water. The rest get their drinking water from an open well or a spring. Toilet ownership is not widespread Only 44 percent said they have one. The absence of toilets in many households does not cause too much inconvenience to these people who, like most other coastal residents, find constructing one dispensable.
The most common ailments in the barangay are flu/fever (75 percent), colds (45 percent), and gastro/diarrhea (27 percent). Incidence of diarrhea in the place can be ascribed to the lack of toilet facilities and, the use of open wells and springs as sources of drinking water.
With reference to the year before the interview, 77 percent of the fishermen said at least one member of their household fell sick. For most households only one or two members fell sick (66 percent of the 77 households), although some said that as many as seven or eight members of their household got sick. The total number of household members who got sick for the 77 households was 181, an average of two for each household. Most of the ailments mentioned by the 77 fishermen – – flu, fever, and colds – – were. In fact, minor and normally did not require medical attention. Nevertheless, 115 or 63.5 percent of those who got sick were considered by the respondents serious enough to need medical attention. Of the 77 fishermen who said at least one member of their household fell sick, 63 said such member needed medical treatment. For most of these 63 households (51 or 80.1 percent), only one or two of their members needed medical treatment. Of the 115 members who did need medical treatment, 84.3 percent actually received medical attention for their sick members. This is traceable to their relatively low family income.
Fishing Activities
At the time of the interview, all respondents regarded fishing as their primary occupation. For most of them, fishing also happens to be their sole occupation. As most of them belong to families whose fathers were also fishermen, majority of the respondents started fishing while still young. The respondents have been fishing for an average of 16.1 years. Considering that their mean age now is 35, their mean age when they started fishing was 19 years. Just as the standard deviation of their age is rather large (11.7 years) the standard deviation of the number of years they have been fishing is also large (10.54 years). The number of years the middle 50% of the respondents have been fishing ranges from 7 to 21 years.
When asked how they learned fishing, most of the respondents (81 percent) said they learned through experience, akin to what some people call as on-the-job training. The rest said they learned from their friends. Only a handful of the respondents (17 percent) had the opportunity to attend a fishing-related seminar. Except for two, all of these 17 said the seminar was sponsored by a government agency. It is significant that three out of every four (76 percent) of these 17 fishermen were able to put into practice the knowledge they gained from the seminar they attended.
Of the 100 fishermen, 20 own and operate their own bancas, 47 rent one, and the remaining 33 are hired crew members. Some 6f those who rent their bancas are actually amortizing them, but because of the uncertainty of their capability to complete amortization, they would rather consider themselves as boat renters. Whenever their catch is big, they add a few of their catch to take care of their amortization after giving the usual percentage to the boat owner. Since this does not occur often, the amortization period tends to be rather long. Moreover, more immediate needs very often compel the boat renters to suspend their amortization payments indefinitely. Some of the fishermen, especially those who are crew members, do not have personal fishing gears, but some crew members have fishing gears. .As their services are not needed by the boat owner at certain hours of the fishing trip some of them bring with them their own fishing gears to do what they call a “sideline. The most popular fishing gear among the 79 fishermen who own one is the single line with multiple small hooks, locally known as estrangre. Sixty-eight percent of them use this kind of fishing gear. The two next most popular ones are the small net and the line with single hook, used by 16 5 percent and 12.6 percent respectively of the 79 fishing gear-owning fishermen The fairly big fishing boats that employ 33 crew-fishermen use big nets that require the services of about 20 people.
The fishermen are at sea for an average of 10.6 hours at a time Some of them, however, stay longer than the others so that the standard deviation of their stay at sea is 3.8 hours. The middle 50 percent are at sea from 8 to 14 hours. In a week, the fishermen go fishing for an average of 6 4 days There is less variation on the number of days the fishermen go fishing, as the standard deviation is less than one. The average number of hours, therefore during which the fishermen are at sea in a week’s time is 67.8 hours. Compart to a typical employee who works eight hours a day from Monday to Friday and four hours on Saturday, or a total of 44 hours a week, the fisherman does overtime work for an wage of 23.84 hours weekly. If one were to include in the fishermen’s working hours the time they spend in attending to the repair and maintenance of their boats and the preparation of and care for their fishing gear, their working hours would even be longer. The working hours of the 33 crew-fishermen are more or less uniform. They usually leave for their boat anchored about two hundred meters from the beach at four i the afternoon and are back at seven in the morning the following day. They do not fish the whole month. They attend to the repair of their boats, mending their nets during a full moon which last for about five days.
The crow are practically employees of the boat owner. They get paid in cash at the end of each fishing cycle or one lunar cycle, i.e, from one full moon to the next full moon. The boat owner records the value of the catch of each fishing trip. From the value of the total catch of one fishing cycle, he deducts all expenses relative to fishing which among others, include fuel and parts for the boat owner, the other half to the crew who divided this among themselves, their share depending on their role in the boat. The maestro who acts as the over-all-in-charge as much as five times more than the lowest-ranking crew member.
Production
certain factors determine which are the peak and lean fishing months, weather is one example. Stormy seasons are normally lean months, while mild stormy seasons can be a lean period for fishermen with small boats but not necessarily for those with big ones. There are times when the fish stay only in the deep sea, and for those with adequeately equipped boats, the season could still be a peak one. The kind of fishing gear used could also spell the difference between a lean season and peak one.
The range of the number of peak and lean months for the fishermen is from one to nine . The average is quite close to five for the number of lean months and four for the number of lean months. The variation for the number of lean months is greater than that for the peak moths. The standard deviation of the number of lean month is 2.4 months, while that of the peak months is only 1.9 months.
The volume of catch is disproportionately distributed. Excluding that of the crew, the mean monthly catch during peak month is 190.5 percent ranges from 70 to 300 kilos with a median catch of 22.4 times greater than the average catch of the lowest 10 percent (28 kilos).
The volume of fish caught directly affects the value of the catch. Again excluding that of the crew who know only the aggregate value of the catch of their boat for one fishing cycle, there is a considerable disproportion in the value of the fishermen’s catch. While the average value for one month during the peak period is 1,290.67, the standard deviation of this value is greater (P1,565.00). In fact, the value of the catch of the 75th percentile (P1,280.00) is even lower than the computed mean value. The average value of the catch of the highest 10 percent (5,306.67) is 25 times that of the lowest 10 percent (P211.67). The median value is P750.00.
The disproportion of the volume and value of catch during lean months is even greater than that for peak months. While the average momhiy catch during lean months is 78.7 kilos (less than one-half or only 44.29 percent of the catch during peak months), the standard deviation is 131.7 kilos. Again, the catch (60 kilos) of the 75th percentile Is lower than the computed average catch. The median catch is only 40 kilos. The average catch of the highest 10 percent (417.7 kilos) is 53.9 times that of the lowest 10 percent (7.74 kilos).
The value of the catch during lean months is naturally lower as the volume of the catch is small. While the monthly average value of the catch during lean months is P589.92, the standard deviation is P1,020.23. The median value of the catch is P280 and the middle 50 percent range from P200 to P420. The value of the catch of the highest 10 percent (P20,200) is greater than the value of the catch of the remaining 90 percent (P16,375). The average value of the catch of the top 10 percent P3,336.67) is 69.2 times the value of the catch of the lowest 10 percent (48.67).
The crew being hired labor do not incur any expenses unless they fish for themselves when their services are not needed by the boat owner. The three major expense items entailed in a fishing trip as reported by the fishermen are fuel, food, and ice. Only three or four fishermen mentioned expenses on crew and marketing as part of their fishing expenses. Since not all bancas operated by the fishermen are motorized, not all of them reported fuel as part of their usual expenses. If the bancas are not motorized, they could not go very far, therefore they do not need ice to keep their catch fresh.
Those who mentioned fuel, food, and ice as part of their usual expenses stated that the mean fuel cost per fishing trip is P70.12. This however, has a large standard deviation (P72.55) which indicates that the volume of fuel consumption among the 36 fishermen varies greatly. In fact, the median expenses on fuel (P40.00) is only 57 percent of the mean expense. The total expense of 9 or 35 percent of the 26 fishermen (P1,340) is 2.77 times more than that of the remaining 17 or 65 percent of the fishermen (P483). The mean expense on food for the 40 fishermen for each fishing trip is P6.08. As with the expense on fuel, the standard deviation of the expense on food is large (6.86). The food expense of the middle 50 percent ranges only from 3.00 to P5.00.
The number of fishermen who mentioned fuel as part of their usual fishing-related expense (26) approximates the number of those who mentioned ice (27) also as part of their expense. The mean expense on ice is P4.00 while its standard deviation is P2.88. The median expense (P3.00) is lower. Two-thirds of those who spend on ice, spend P4.00 and below.
For most of the fishermen (87.3 percent), the catch is for sale as well as consumption. For 11.1 percent of them, the catch is only for sale. The average percentage of the catch set aside for consumption is 9.15 percent with a standard deviation of 6.55 percent. The middle 50 percent set aside from 5 percent to 10 percent of their catch for consumption. The average percentage of the catch set aside for sale is 89.9 percent with a standard deviation of 12.41 percent. The middle 50 percent set aside from 80 percent to 97 percent of their catch for sale. Selling is done mainly by the fishermen themselves (86.4 percent), while some (11.9 percent) let their wives do it for them. The rest specified that they let their children take care of the selling.
The most popular selling place of the catch is the fish landing. Among the fishermen who sell their catch, 79.31 percent do the selling at the fish landing. The rest sell theirs either at the market in their barangay (5.17 percent), at sea (6.90 percent), or at the market in the poblacion (3.45 percent). Some of them (5.17 percent) sell their catch outside the poblacion. The reasons why the fishermen sell their catch in their chosen place is in rank order, as follows: suki (regular customer), better price, and convenience. Most of the fishermen (87.93 percent) sell their catch to a middleman. Others sell theirs directly to consumers (5.2percent), to final sellers (1.72 percent), and other buyers (5.2 percent).
Among the 100 fishermen, only 44 are aware of the availability of credit for fishing-related loans. According to about two-thirds (67.6 percent) of the latter group this credit is available from a private individual. The government as a source of credit was mentioned by only 10.8 percent of the fishermen; the rest mentioned relatives (8.11 percent) and other sources (13.5 percent). Of the 44 fishermen who are aware of the availability of credit, 81.8 percent availed of the loans. This could mean that had the same information been available to the other fishermen, borrowing should have been more brisk.
Organizational Participation
Membership in community organizations is limited. This is understandable considering fishermen are at sea 9.8 hours a day on the average. The greater portion of this time falls at night which means they get very little sleep at night, if at all. During the day they have to attend to their banca and fishing gears. Since they also have to get their sleep during the day, they have very little time to spare for organizational activities. Primarily because of time constraint, only 16% of the fishermen are presently members of community organizations. The rest are non-members and do not wish to join one. They refused to discuss hypothetical situations on what organization they would join if they had the time because they see this possibility as too remote. When asked about the number of meetings held by the organization in the past six months, the fisher men gave answers that ranged from as low as one to as many as 20. The total number of meetings held, however, came to 67 with a median of three. Of the 67 meetings, fishermen claimed to have attended a total of 52. The mean number of meetings each fisherman has attended is four. The standard deviation (4.66 percent) is greater; the median is only two meetings.
More than one of every five of the fishermen (21.4 percent) is presently holding a position in an organization Considering the officer-to-member ratio in most community organizations, one could say that the number of officers among the fishermen is fair enough. Fishermen’s participation in the activities of the organization is also fairly satisfactory; 71.4 percent said they participate in the activities of their organization. No one said he is inactive in his organization four said they are very active, six said they are active, and the rest said they are slightly active in their organization.
Awareness of and Attitude Towards Government Projects
Because the fishermen have limited time to be adequately observant or because there are in fact very few projects undertaken by the government in the community, only 51 percent of the fishermen said they are aware of a government project existing in their community. The other 49 percent said they could not recall any project the government is presently undertaking. When asked what government project they were aware of, three were mentioned: Kilusang Kabuhayan at Kauntaran (KKK), Biyayang-Dagat, and Development Bank of the Philippines projects. Of these 51 fishermen, 56.9% are aware of the Biyayang-Dagat project of the government; slightly fewer (or 51 percent) are aware of the KKK project; and only 2 percent are aware of a DBP project. Only 24 percent of those who are aware of the Biyayang-Dagat project are actual beneficiaries of this project.
The general attitude of the fishermen toward government projects is non-committal or indifference. The average number of the respondents who chose not to take sides on the issues presented to them (49.5 percent) exceeds the number of both those who expressed a positive attitude (21.1 percent) and those who expressed a negative attitude (29.5 percent). There are as many fishermen who think that, by and large, government programs and projects serve only the interest of a few organized groups rather than that of private citizens in their individual or personal capacities and that these programs/projects are insensitive to the needs of the ordinary citizens.
Another issue presented to the fishermen concerned the right of the government to engage in any activity and program affecting the lives of the citizens. Again, there are more fishermen who preferred no to take sides (53 percent), than those expressed either a favorable (15 percent) or unfavorable opinion (32 percent). The number of fishermen who thinks the government is trying to do too many things including some activities or program think the government has no right to do is slightly more (32 percent) than twice the number of fishermen who think otherwise (15 percent).
The mean proportion of fishermen who prefer not to take sides regarding issues related to government programs.projects is 49 percent. This is reflective of their indifference toward the government in general. As regards those who expressed a definite stand, the fishermen tend to have an unfavorable rather a favorable attitude.
Need, Aspirations, Perceptions
The overall perception of the fishermen on life as a whole is good. A large proportion of the fishermen (95 percent) found themselves in a position to evaluate their life as a whole, in contrast to their tendency to be indifferent ir unwilling to express attitudes towards government programs/projects. Of these 95 fishermen, the number of those who said they are happy (81) outnumber those who said they are unhappy (14) by a ratio of 1 is to 5.78. This overall positive perception on life as a whole is supported by the trend of their evaluation of where they stand in a 10-step ladder where one’s life is depicted as improving with every upward step. While all 100 fishermen found no problem in identifying where they stood in the ladder five years ago and where they stand at present, seven chose no to identify where they will be standing in this ladder five years from now. The major reason given was the future is too uncertain to allow them to more or less accurately know whether life would be better or worse.
The mean step the other fishermen see themselves in this ladder five years hence (4.43) is 1.48 and 0.81 steps higher than the mean steps they see themselves standing five years ago and now, respectively. The median step five years hence (5) is also higher than the median step five years ago and now three and two steps respectively.
While the average fishermen does not see himself at the middle of this social ladder even five years from now, the trend as to where he finds himself to be standing in this ladder for a ten-year period is indicative of the hope he has of ultimately being able to finally improve his overall living condition. This positive outlook is further supported by the fisherman’s feelings about his overall ability to satisfy the wants and needs of his family. Of the 86 fishermen who answered this item, 93 percent said they are happy, and only 7 percent said they are unhappy.
The fishermen see themselves and government as playing important roles in their move up the social ladder. Slightly more than three-fourths (76.6 percent) of the fishermen consider themselves capable of improving the living conditions of their families. Slightly fewer (74 percent) said the government can do something to improve their lives.
For more specific indications of the fishermen’s perception on life, they were asked how they consider their meal intake a day before the interview and the floor area of their present residence. Again, the fishermen signified their satisfaction by saying that their meal intake was enough (96 percent), and the the floor area of their residence is adequate for their family (98 percent). when asked whether they consider themselves poor or not, 12 percent said they are not poor, 25 percent said they are poor, and the rest (63 percent) said they are neither.
The fishermen are in agreement regarding the importance of such values as a comfortable life, sense of accomplishment, family security, self respect, social recognition, and salvation. When asked to rate these values according to how important in their life they consider them to be, the fishermen’s first choice was family security. They gave the same rating to comfortable life and salvation, while sense of accomplishment was rated last.
The average amount of money that the fishermen consider as enough for the monthly needs of their family so that they could not considered poor is P552.00. This amount, however, has large standard deviation (P382.90). The extent of the variation could arise from variation in family size and personal aspirations. The highest ambition of the fishermen for their children is that they finish college and eventually land a stable job; this was the choice of 77 percent of the fishermen. That they help in catching fish is the desire of only 11.1 percent that they have a happy married life was given by only 4.9 percent.