Me (shouting from the shore): Manong, how many kilos do you usually catch everytime you fish?
Manong: It depends. Sometimes 1 kilo. Sometimes more.
Me: How long do you stay in the water to catch the fish?
Manong: 2-3 hours.
We found this family at sea at mid-morning. Father, mother and daughter in one outrigger hoping to catch some fish to earn for the day. They were catching fish in what was once a marine sanctuary.
The process to catch fish is tedious. They start with laying out meters of net on the water. Then they paddle around again beating the water to get the fish to swim into the net.
On this day, we stood by as they pulled in the nets with hardly any fish on them. Small time fishing is always a game of chance with the number of fish and the weather.
The daughter probably skipped school or does not go to school so she can help out the parents at sea. That is a sad thing in this time and age because it will dictate the kind of future for the kid. But the kid probably was enjoying herself. Afterall, it doesn't take much to make a child happy.
I remember when I was about 6 years old, we lived near a fishing village. It was child's play when adults brought me to pick shells at low tide ('manginhas' was the term in the dialect) or catch fish at night during low tide using lighted coconut palms to illuminate the way ('manulo' in the dialect). It was child's play back then but looking back, it was a fantastic way to gain life's experience. Afterall, it is priceless memory to remember having to dig into the sand and discover shells behind the rock and stones.
Or when fishermen arrived from a night's trip at sea and people rushed to meet them to check out their catch. It was fun to tag behind someone who went from house to house carrying fish on a basket and hollering out fish for sale. And it was a glee to get a few cents for simply tagging along. It didn't take much to make this child happy.
And then when we got home, there was something good to eat from fresh fish - either hot soup (tinola), fish stew (inun-unan), fried or grilled fish. The shells picked at low tide were also made into delectable soup.
It was a joy to watch the fishing family and reminisce on happy childhood memories. Those fun days will always be priceless compared to the stresses and challenges of life as it is today.
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