Over 200 fishermen staged a rally outside of a distillery in Bais City, Negros Oriental after the collapse of a dike of a wastewater lagoon that contaminated seawater and caused fish kill.

The fishermen held the rally morning on October 29, 2025.

The dike collapsed evening on October 24, 2025 and spilled wastewater into the sea where fishermen keep fishpens.

The fishermen are from at least eight coastal barangays in Bais City and five coastal barangays in the adjacent Municipality of Manjuyod.

An estimated 13 hectares of marine protected area are affected by the wastewater spill in Manjuyod.

Following the incident, Manjuyod Mayor Raffy Andaya ordered the temporary closure of its sand bar, a prominent tourist destination, which has affected the town’s tourism industry.

Dolphin-watching activity in Bais City is also affected heavily by the wastewater spill.

Over 3,000 fishermen from Bais City and Manjuyod are reportedly affected due to economic losses.

The Local Government Units also expressed worry over the wastewater’s effect to Tañon Strait, a protected marine area and deemed the largest protected seascape in the Philippines.

Bais City Mayor Luigi Marcel Goñi has issued an executive order to stop distillery operations immediately.

Further, the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) 7 has issued an advisory urging the public to refrain from consuming marine products from the contaminated area.

BFAR 7 advised the public from fishing, collecting, and gathering aquatic organisms, such as but not limited to finfish, crustaceans, and seaweeds, following the spill and fish kill.

Atty. Romela Mae Lozano-Napao, city administrator of Bais City, said that the LGU has mulled on the possible declaration of a state of calamity to be able to use the Quick Response Fund for financial assistance to affected fishermen.

LGU Manjuyod pointed out that even though the distillery company would distribute financial assistance to fishermen, they are still accountable to the people for the environmental detriment that the wastewater spill has caused.

(via Vic Camion/GMA Regional TV Balitang Bisdak)