Cebu City, Cebu – Strengthening and fortifying their commitments and roles, the partners of the FISH Visayas Project convened for two days from September 01 to 02, 2022 at the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel and Casino for the signing of the project’s Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). The activity successfully onboarded one hundred fifteen (115) project partners from the local government units, business membership organizations, national government agencies, and people’s organizations.

AFOS Foundation represented by its Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Norbert Weiss; Chief Finance Officer, Ms. Ana–Maria Puyalto Pardina; and Country Representative and Project Manager, Ms. Yvette Hope Labus, and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry represented by its President Mr. Charles Kenneth Co and Acting Executive Director, Ms. Joy Amador Segismar signed the AFOS-CCCI partnership agreement. This signifies the renewed commitment of AFOS and CCCI to the implementation of the project’s second phase.

Dignitaries from the four project areas of Bohol, Cebu, Negros, and Siquijor further joined the activity. Honorable mayors from the LGUs of Bantayan, Cordova, Alburquerque, Pres. Carlos P. Garcia, Tagbilaran City, Ubay, La Libertad, San Juan, and Siquijor partake in the activity. At the same time, Regional and provincial directors from the DA- Bureau of Fisheries & Aquatic Resources (BFAR), Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), and the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) participated in the MOU Signing along with five business membership organizations: Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI), CCCI- Bantayan Island Chapter (CCCI- BIC), Bohol Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI), Siquijor Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Inc. (SCCII), and the Dumaguete Cathedral Credit Cooperative (DCCCO) Multipurpose Coop.

The two-day activity is the project’s first activity that convened all partners from the four project areas together with sixteen representatives of people’s organizations consisting of fisherfolk associations.