A Fisherman's Dream: How One Man's Determination Restored an Entire Bay

WWhen Romy Marasigan was a child, the waters of Manila Bay were clear and teeming with fish. He would go out with his father, cast his simple net, and come home with enough to feed their family of eight, with plenty left over to sell at the market. Those were good times, he recalls. The bay was alive with life, and the fishing community was prosperous.

But by the time he was a young man, everything had changed. The fish were gone, the water was polluted, and his way of life was disappearing. The change had been gradual at first, but by the 1990s, the decline was dramatic. The bay's fish populations had been decimated by overfishing and pollution. The water was thick with silt and algae, and the stench of decomposition hung over the coast.

"I remember the day I realized we were on the brink of losing everything," Romy recalls. "I was out on the water with my eldest son, and the net was empty. We hadn't caught a single fish in three hours. I looked at my son's face, and I saw the same loss I was feeling. I knew then that I had to do something."

Romy didn't start with grand plans. He started small, with just a few other fishermen who shared his concern. They began a cleanup effort, picking up debris and plastic from the shoreline. It was a small act, but it gave them a sense of agency. "It felt good to do something, anything," he says. "It was like we were taking back our bay, one bottle at a time."

The group, which eventually became known as the "Bantay-Bay" (Bay Watch), began advocating for stronger environmental regulations and enforcement. They lobbied local officials, held public forums, and worked with the media to raise awareness about the plight of Manila Bay.