DAVAO CITY, Philippines—The sons and daughter of fishermen from Siargao, Siquijor and Cagayan placed among the top 10 in the October 2026 Fisheries Professionals Licensure Examination, entering a profession that anchors food supply and livelihoods in coastal communities.
Justine Genese Aron of Surigao del Norte State University-Del Carmen (SNSU-Del Carmen) tied for 10th with 87.25%. Tamara Ocay Maghanoy of Mindanao State University-Naawan (MSU-Naawan) tied for ninth with 87.50%, while Josephmar Manzano Tolvo of Cagayan State University-Aparri (CSU-Aparri) placed fifth with a rating of 88.50%.
The Professional Regulation Commission reported 1,816 of 2,631 examinees passed, a rate of 69.02%. Results were released on Oct. 6, after the exam was administered Oct. 1-2.
Their paths into fisheries differed. Aron grew up in a fishing household on Siargao and changed majors before finishing his fisheries degree. Mahanoy, who grew up in Siquijor, entered the field on a scholarship and studied at MSU-Naawan in Misamis Oriental. Tolvo, of Cagayan, leaned on his early exposure to aquaculture and his family’s business when preparing for the exam.
Their experiences show how students juggle financial constraints, unexpected opportunities and the demands of preparing for a professional license.
From the market to the exam
Tolvo’s path began at Santa Ana Fishery National High School in Cagayan, where he earned a National Certificate II in Aquaculture. His father, a fisherman, died, but Tolvo kept his connection to the sea. He graduated magna cum laude from CSU-Aparri.
Preparing for the exam, Tolvo built his review around its Table of Specifications, consulted technical manuals and scientific publications, and used artificial intelligence tools to clarify difficult concepts. He tested himself with quizzes and helped his girlfriend prepare for the same exam.
His family’s wet-market business, selling frozen meat and other goods, proved an unlikely study aid, letting him connect post-harvest fisheries concepts to product quality, packaging and processing. He also visited wet markets, a pier, fishponds and the sea to ground abstract material in real settings.
Tolvo plans to pursue graduate studies and help fisherfolk. “A rank is an honor, a license is a responsibility,” he said. “But the knowledge we pass on, and the lives we help transform, are the legacies we leave behind.”
A scholarship reroute
Maghanoy grew up in Siquijor planning to study criminology. A Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) scholarship redirected her to MSU-Naawan in Misamis Oriental, where she arrived knowing little of the field beyond her father’s work as a fisherman.
She balanced a month of face-to-face review classes, then a month of self-review of up to eight hours daily while doing household duties and church activities, posting definitions and figures on her bedroom wall and watching recorded lectures when chores interrupted.
The preparation took an emotional toll — she experienced anxiety and burnout, leaning on prayer and her church community to push through. Poor internet connectivity delayed her access to the results until messages from others confirmed her ninth-place finish.
Maghanoy hopes to serve at MSU or BFAR before returning to San Juan, Siquijor, to work on fisheries management and fisherfolk livelihoods.
A latecomer from Siargao
Aron grew up in San Benito, Siargao, where his father fishes and family life revolves around the island’s coastal resources. He first enrolled in electrical technology at SNSU-Del Carmen, shifting to fisheries after being rejected from his preferred education program.
He graduated in 2025 but waited a year to take the exam, feeling unprepared. Low on funds, he chose online review classes, resigned from an online job to study full time and returned to the exam’s Table of Specifications to shore up his weakest subject, post-harvest fisheries. Volleyball, pickleball and walks kept him from burning out.
Aron said the result mattered beyond his family, for a campus he felt had fewer facilities than some rival universities, and credited his instructors. He hopes to work on protecting the Siargao Island Protected Landscapes and Seascapes and may teach future fisheries professionals.
The field ahead
Philippine fisheries production reached 1.03 million metric tons in the second quarter of 2026, up 2% from 1.01 million a year earlier, The Philippine Statistics Authority reported, with growth in commercial and municipal fisheries offsetting a decline in aquaculture. Output varied regionally, with Davao Region production falling with recorded 14,638.52 metric tons of fisheries production in the second quarter of 2026, down to 13.2% from the same quarter in 2025.
The figures frame the work awaiting the new licensees: aquaculture, post-harvest processing, resource management and support for the fishing communities that raised them.(davaotoday.com)
