FISHERMEN’S associations and nongovernmental organizations are asking the United Nations to look into the plight of small-scale fishermen who are considered part of the “poorest of the poor” sector in the Philippines.
The “open invitation” to the UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) was made by the representatives of the various organizations on Monday at the Philippine Consultation and Workshops on UN FAO Vision Guidelines on Small-Scale Fisheries held in Quezon City.
“We collectively send this strong appeal to officials of the UN FAO to come to the Philippines….(this) The reality check can be found and heard from the voices from the grassroots,” Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) national chair Fernando Hicap said in a press statement.
Hicap said the UN FAO should send its special rapporteur on the right to food—Mr. Oliver de Schutter — to conduct a thorough investigation on why small-scale fishermen in the country remain poor despite the country’s vast marine resources.
He claimed that development projects such as eco-tourism and ecozone projects funded by foreign investors is causing the destruction fishery resources, thus violating the rights of small fisherfolk all over the country.
At the workshop, participants cited several projects that they said were “highly inimical” to the interest of small-scale fisheries. These projects include: the Laguna Lake Master Plan which involve 54 major projects and would displace about 3.9 million fishermen and residents along the lake; the Manila Bay Master Development Plan that involve the privatization and conversion of the bay, the offshore mining for oil and gas in West Philippine Sea, the widespread black sand mining in Lingayen Gulf, Zambales and Aurora in Central Luzon, Cagayan, Albay, Eastern Visayas, Negros and Panay Island and the mush rooming of eco-tourism driven fish sanctuaries in Central Visayas and other parts of Luzon and Mindanao.
Hicap added that the case of Aurora Pacific Economic and Free Port zone project in Aurora province and the Pampanga Delta Development Project in Pampanga and some parts of Bulacan province also deserve the attention of UN FAO regarding destruction of fish sources.
Pamalakaya has been pushing for government subsidy for small-scale fishermen. They said a comprehensive program that would improve the level of technology and production is needed to make sure the fish needs of over 100 million Filipinos is supplied by local production.
The fishermen's group wants a yearly P 32-billion oil subsidy for small fisherfolk utilizing small fishing boats and paddle-driven bancas to mitigate the impact of unbridled increases in the prices of petroleum products. --Jonathan L. Mayuga
