Abundant catch of sardines
delights Bonbon fisherfolk

By Lynde Salgados
Correspondent

IT’S already noon on a humid Saturday, yet Barangay Bonbon fishermen are still seen fishing off the Macajalar Bay of Cagayan de Oro City.

Is tamban (sardine) fish season here again to cheer up ordinary families living across the seaside barangays of Bayabas, Bonbon, and Macabalan?

At least the sight of fishing boats lined up along the coastal waters with the occasional passing to-and-fro of passenger’s vessels off the Macabalan port was enough to delight the residents of Bonbon, the main hub of abundant tamban (herring, sardine) produce in the City of Gold.

“S’werte karong buntaga kay nagpaduol ang mga tamban sa higad. Tiba-tiba gyod ang mga mangingisda,” said Islaw Timkang, the best ‘chef’ for tamban kinilaw in the barangay.

Timkang said what’s good for the day’s catch was the presence of the so-called ‘tayapad’ variety which is not only delicious for kinilaw but also “arthritis-friendly.”

There are five kinds of tamban, namely toloy, tayapad, yellowish, lopoy, and hilos hilos.

“Kining tayapad talagsa ra motunga kay dili ni sila gasagol sa tamban toloy nga mao ang kasagaran nga kuha,” Timkang said.

“Pero dili nako ibaylo ang tamban kinilaw sa barilis kon palami-ay lang sa lasa, samot na kon paresan sa bugas mais nga init-init pa,” said fresh from the US balikbayan, Manvell Tan.

One Maila Jadulan, who regularly peddles fresh tamban in the barangay, said Saturday’s price is pegged at P70 per kilo, though it’s all pure of the tayapad kind.

“Naay panahon grabe gyod ka abunda tag P20 na lang ang kilo. Pero kining tayapad bisan tag P100 pa mahurot gihapon kay pangitaon ni nga klase,” Jadulan said.

A son of a fish vendor, Mamart Jadap said there was a time in Bonbon that tamban season had been divinely prolonged up to December to everyone’s great delight.

“Sobra-sobra kaayo ‘to nga grasya basin unta mautro karong tuiga pang survival sa Covid,” was Jadap’s prayer.