Tragedy In Bogo City
Eudegario Godinez, who was 45 years of age, died while dynamite fishing around 7am this morning. He saw a school of fish and allegedly attempted 
to drop dynamite into the school but it exploded before he could release it. The explosion severed his right hand and caused severe injuries to his face and chest that were fatal.
His wife was with him, she is being treated at a hospital in Bogo City. The accident happened in a township that is adjacent to Bogo City known as Medellin town in barangay Daan Lungsod.
Dynamite fishing has been banned for some time now. The practice was widespread through much of the Philippines. Though now illegal it appears to be common even now. I have read of several deaths related to the practice.
Dynamite fishing has been devastating to the Philippine environment. It has wrecked havoc on the Philippines rich corals that surround much of the islands. The Philippines government seems to be trying to educate its people, much like happened in the US during the 70′s and 80′s about taking care of the environment.
It would be easy to criticize dynamite fishing but this has been a way of life. A way of supporting ones family. It is part of the culture and cultures don’t change over night. These things take time. It is sad that this man lost his life working hard for his family.
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Tagged with: Bogo City • Living In The Phlippines • Philippine Environment • Philippines
Filed under: Cebuano Culture
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Playing with matches often leads to fire. Illegally fishing with dynamite leads to death. It’s pretty simple.
Hi Rusty, That’s a very sad case, but unfortunately a pretty common occurance. I have a close friend in Carmen, Cebu that works at the fisheries school there. They often hold workshops for fisherman about the dangers of dynamite fishing, but getting people to follow is often a slow process.
Bob you’re right it often does lead to blowing oneself up.
They will not stop dynamite fishing unless they offer alternative ways of making money. I read a few months ago, the government does provide funding to assist with that. How effective it is, I don’t know.
I’m guessing the sound of the explosion must be very muffled by the water as the towns people found the couple when they heard the explosion. So they must not usually hear it. That will make it harder to detect.
Both sides of my family were poor dirt farmers that got by anyway they could. My paternal grandfather was very anti government, especially anti-tax and there I was working for the IRS.
I remember when they had no indoor bathroom. It is very hard to get people to stop doing what they have been doing for a long time.
I’m a wildlife lover so it is hard for me to see the abuse of the environment but I think it is important to not put the people down for living their culture. Especially when it is a matter of feeding their families. A lot of poverty here. I wont demonize a man for his honest hard work, even if it is harmful. He’s not out there robbing and stealing. He is likely doing something he’s been doing since he was a young boy.
Hi Rusty – Sorry, I just don’t believe that dynamite fishing is a cultural thing.
Hi Rusty, I have to agree with Bob, and I don’t think that dynamite fishing is really a cultural thing, but more a practice that fortunately is becoming slowly an out-dated style that people have realized in the long run that it’s not worth the risk and ends up killing more fish and oceanlife than intended. My husband has cousins in our town that are fisherman and with many have found that net fishing is a lot safer and better for everyone in the long run.
I don’t agree.
I don’t know the man of course but I’m willing to bet he learned it from his father and his father from his father.
Also the article I read in Cebu Daily News nearly a year ago treated it as such as well.
When it is part of your way of life, I don’t see how it could be anything but cultural.
Environmentalist in the past have verbally attacked people that were doing harm to the environment and just lock them up to prevent it. That has proven to be ineffective. The most effective ways to stop environment destruction is when they taught the native people how to make money on protecting the environment. Without offering alternatives, there’s little chance of change and some of us are not going to every be happy with any government forcing those kinds of changes.
It just is cultural.
A couple of definitions:
From Wikipedia
From WSU:
Hi Rusty, Well I guess I can see the point that you’re making– dynamite fishing is a learned behavior and part of a person’s daily life. I guess all the more reason that it will be hard for people to change. Nobody can be faulted for trying to try to put food on the table or making a living that way if they have to, but if you lose your hands or worse, you can’t be much help to yourself or your family. I guess for some, they don’t see a viable alternative. Fishing nets are expensive too.
Hi Rusty – So, how about the culture of America? Americans like big cars – gas guzzlers. They love SUV’s. It’s a cultural thing. Now, we have Al Gore and all the greens telling us that we have to drive electric cars to save the environment. The Global Warming will kill the planet. So, American’s must abandon their culture. But, if Filipinos want to thrown dynamite in the water to kill all the fish, coral and everything else, that is cultural and we should leave them alone, it’s cultural after all.
What is your take on this?
Ha ha.. it’s always fun playing devil’s advocate!
Actually Bob, I started to make that argument about American culture includes the love of Big cars. i wouldn’t say it includes SUVs. That’s a new trend, hardly passed down from generation to generation, probably just the opposite will happen. Since kids are now growing up that grew up in SUVs they’ll probably want anything their parents didn’t have.
It seems that you are saying just because its culture it is good. I don’t say that at all.
I think that dynamite fishing is a culture that I support the Philippine government with their attempts to stop it. Not that they need my support nor want it.
It is certainly not the place of an outsider to push for cultural change.
I’m all for the change, that doesn’t have any bearing on if it is part of the culture or not.
Agricultural and fishing traditions are defiantly part of ones culture.
Hi Rusty – As I said, I was mostly playing Devil’s Advocate. Seriously, though, I don’t consider dynamite fishing culture at all. We all can have different opinions, though.
From Bureau of Fisheries And Aquatic Resources
The livelihood program is what the government refers to as their efforts to change the culture of fishing in the Philippines. They don’t give much information there but based on an article I read when a fisherman off Cebu City blew him self up, these funds have been provided to fisherman to help them with the transition. That may have been some of the world wide CFYA policies though.
Yep we can disagree, but I can’t imagine anything more cultural than agricultural practices. Perhaps from my southern background.
i think it not good to blow up fish im so sorry for the incident that happen.but it is no good for the corals
Hi Ann,
I agree with you and it saddens my heart to see it going on and I’ve read of several such accidents in the year that I’ve been here.
I think it is important to recognize that it is a way of life for some. I think the Philippine government sees it that way too. They are trying to coax the fishermen into other means of fishing or earning an income by providing programs to help them make the change. Now how effective those programs are, I have no idea. That the programs are there recognizes it is a complex issue.