By Danilo P. Padua, PhD
I have always wanted to see the GenSan fish port. Never had a chance to do it before although I have been in the city for a number of times already, including last March.
When I was invited to be a resource person to a Training-Seminar in nearby Isulan, the capital town of Sultan Kudarat, I thought it could be the time that I will be able to see the fish port.
On Nov. 12, I landed in the General Santos city international airport for the Nov 13-14 Training-Seminar event. The airport is also known as Tambler airport. It replaced the old Buayan airport.
I first landed in the present airport when it opened in 1996, on my way to the world’s biggest contiguous pineapple plantation owned by Dole Philippines. I served as a consultant of that company. Much of the 6 km stretch of road to the downtown area was then an open area, but now it is almost full of concrete structures.
My CebPac flight was delayed for about 2.5 hours! I learned later from a stewardess that the delay was due to 2 main reasons: delay of arrival of the plane from another airport in Mindanao and the flight congestion in NAIA.
Our plane actually took off more than one hour after all passengers have boarded it. There were a number of tourists also aboard. That long delay shows the urgency and the fast-tracking of the development of the new airport in Bulacan.
Since it was already 7 in the evening when we arrived, and Isulan municipality is a good 2-hour drive away, my host decided to billet me in a hotel in the city itself to have more rest-in preparation for the grind the following day.
After delivering my lectures on biofertilizers in 3 installments, I asked that my flight back to Manila will be the following day, skipping the last day of the training. This was because I wanted to be present during the last night of vigil for a nephew who was to be buried the following day. I was supposed to give a message during the wake.
I was rebooked accordingly but morning flights were all fully booked. Had to settle for the afternoon flight. This was however, an opportune time for me to visit the GenSan fish port which is only 25 min away from my hotel. Wish granted, I was whisked to the facility, arriving there at around 7 in the morning. Best time to be there according to people who knows, is between 5 and 6 am.
After paying the required twenty pesos fee at the main gate, leaving my ID behind and as instructed, my driver and I proceeded to rent pairs of white boots to be used to go around the 4 markets at the port.
It was also the first time that my driver visited the port. We had to find our way within the big fish port. After wearing the white boots, the excitement began. We got to Market 1 which is nearest to the wide parking space. Along with us are vloggers and other tourists from various places
And yes, Market 1 is for tunas alone! So we immediately hit the main target of my desire to visit the port.
I have seen a few other fish ports in Mindanao and the Visayas, especially those in Capiz-the so-called fish capital of the Philippines- but I find the GenSan port as the most special one for me.
With so many tunas, each weighing 40kg or more on the fish boards and being moved around, I just started clicking my phone camera at random before I realized that I had a driver with me who can take photos so I would also be in the frame. Many tunas were more than 5 feet long; a lot of them are yellow-finned.
Was told later that one of the tastiest kind is what they call big eye tuna. I saw a lot of them in Market 1. It is lighter in skin and fetches higher price than the yellow fin.
Heard from an expert that tunas have their own “highways” when they travel; one of such is in the waters of GenSan. That explains the abundance of caught tuna in the fish port on a daily basis. I saw tuna being yanked out from both small and big fishing boats.
My curiosity was also caught by the scene of some people fishing right on the port’s clear sea waters. When I got near them, I saw a lot of fishes gaily swimming, clueless that they will be in a boiling water in a few minutes.
The vloggers of course, also had a fiesta taking videos.
We jumped to Market 2, finding more fish species of the smaller types. They are in abundance too. We never got to Markets 3 and 4-where the more expensive types such as lapu-lapus are unloaded. We needed to recharge, and taste the freshly-caught fishes in a fish court beside Market 2. I had a lapu-lapu sinigang, and my driver who is a Muslim, chose another delicious species (with multi-colored scales when fresh) that was fried.
GenSan is a showcase of the richness of our sea waters. No wonder, many are poaching in our exclusive economic zone. Thanks GenSan, till the next visit.**
