IN his obsession to discover more livelihood opportunities for Filipinos who would rather find their fortune at home rather than abroad, Secretary Augusto “Boboy” Syjuco, director general of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), has stumbled upon a livelihood and love story rolled into one.

It is the sweet love story of the couple at the forefront of TESDA’s latest project, the Skills & Technology Transfer Program for Upland Fisheries in the 2nd District of Iloilo. They are Edgardo H. Lasangre and Naida Garcia-Lasangre, both Fisheries instructors at the TESDA-administered Lupon School of Fisheries in Lupon, Davao Oriental.

Naida, 51, has gained national prominence by bagging two awards: Outstanding Model of TESDA 2007 and Dangal ng Bayan Award 2008 for Outstanding Public Service. Though born in Davao City, she is an Ilongga by pedigree and by affinity. Her parents – schoolteachers Francisco Debuque Garcia and the former Milagros Peñafiel Damasco – are natives of Dumangas, Iloilo. Her husband Edgardo is from the town of Lambunao.

Nubile Naida first met her future husband in the mid-70s on their first day together in a classroom at the Iloilo State College of Fisheries (ISCOF). They became “at home” with each other. It was definitely love at first sight and good omen of their destiny.

As Naida was telling us, she had not planned to study in Iloilo after graduating from the San Isidro Municipal High School in San Isidro, Davao del Norte. However, upon hearing from friends that she could land immediate employment through a Fisheries course, she opted to sail for the first time to Iloilo and enrolled at the Iloilo State College of Fisheries (ISCOF), taking up BS-Fishery Education (major in Inland Fisheries).

To make their love story short, their “marriage degree” came ahead of their college degrees. In their third year at ISCOF, Naida Garcia and Edgardo Lasangre exchanged “I do’s” at the Catholic church of Lambunao, Iloilo on September 22, 1979.

After finishing their courses a year later, she brought him home to Davao. She did not have to wait long to find a job. The San Isidro Municipal High School, her alma mater, took her in as Biology teacher.

In 1981, she transferred to Lupon Municipal High School.

By a fluke of fate, in 1999, TESDA took over the administration of said school from the Department of Education, renaming it Lupon School of Fisheries, and hired both Naida and Edgar for teaching positions. Not even the succession of day and night could henceforth sway them apart.

Together, the husband-and-wife team spearheaded a TESDA project – tilapia propagation in the Muslim community of Bulayong, San Isidro, Davao Oriental. Their Herculean mission was to transform the community from dole-out mentality to self-reliance. Once the natives realized they could change their lives from penury to prosperity, they took off to a good start on a two-hectare tilapia pond and have been making sufficient income for their families since then.

Today, with the support of Global Foundation, 50 Bulayong families produce at least 2,000 pieces of tilapia, which they consume and sell house-to-house, every four months. Their experience is a literal manifestation of the maxim, “Give man a fish and he will eat for a day; teach him how to fish and he will eat for a lifetime.”

The Lasangres are determined to replicate the same success in the 2nd District pilot area of barangay Seven Citites, Janiuay, Iloilo. This latest “counterparting” project of TESDA and the Office of Congresswoman Judy Syjuco seeks to induce fish sufficiency, and thus alleviate poverty, in the upland barangays. The first tilapia one-hectare pond is now being built there.

“This pond will be breeding place of Tilapia Excel at the least production cost,” Naida told this writer. “Tilapia feeds on rice bran and minced kangkong or other leafy vegetables. It is harvestable in only four months when an average of five pieces already weighs one kilo. A kilo of tilapia may be sold at a very competitive retail price of eighty pesos.

“A one-hectare pond of tilapia with a maximum of five male and female fingerlings per square meter could breed 30,000 new fingerlings after two months. Grown into thumb-size, each fingerling could be sold at one peso.”

Proof of the Lasangres’ own success in love and life is their having raised seven healthy children, namely Carol June, Mel Francis, Edgardo Jr., Carl Edward, Nathalie Rose, Rochie Hosenne and Dominique Joy. With the exception of the 7th who is in 4th year high school, the children have already finished college and on their own.

One Response to “A love and livelihood story”

• 1
  donardsteve
  November 18th, 2008 13:47

  thanks for sharing this, I hope we can have such thing here in our town. Im from calinog.

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