At least 40 units of motorized fiberglass boats were distributed to 80 Badjao families in Tawi-Tawi, Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol said Monday.

The agriculture chief said the recipients were asked to ensure that they will send their children to school in exchange of the fishing boats.

"The fiberglass boats under President Rodrigo Duterte's FB Pagbabago Program come complete with engines, nets, and fishing gears," Piñol said on his Facebook page.

Two families will have to co-own one boat "to encourage teamwork and also prevent the abuse or sale of the boats which has always been the problem of government programs which give out equipment to poor families," Piñol said.

Twenty boats were given to Badjaos in Bongao, while another 20 were distributed to Jama Mapun tribal fishermen living in Taganaka Islands.

At least 200,000 fiberglass fishing boats are expected to be distributed to 400,000 fishing families before 2022.