Members of the militant Makabayan yesterday filed a bill seeking a P15,000 production subsidy for small fisherfolk.
Gabriela party-list Rep. Arlene Brosas led the group in filing House Bill (HB) No. 2024, just a week before the State of the Nation Address of President Marcos Jr., who also sits as agriculture secretary.
“We need to provide urgent relief to the 1.1 million Filipinos employed in the fisheries and aquaculture sector who are now battered by steep oil prices and the Department of Agriculture’s thrust of massive importation of fish,” said Brosas.
The two other members of the Makabayan bloc in the House of Representatives are Reps.
France Castro (Alliance of Concerned Teachers) and Raoul Manuel (Kabataan).
“Our country is surrounded by water but the welfare of our fishermen, which is among the most vulnerable sectors of the society, is always set aside,” Brosas said.
The crafting of the bill was coordinated with the Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya).
Former Anakpawis representative and Pamalakaya national chairperson Fernando Hicap and some local fishermen from Laguna Lake in Rizal and Manila Bay area in Cavite accompanied Brosas in the filing of the bill.
The Makabayan bloc also filed other measures seeking to uplift the lives of fishermen and to protect coastal areas from destructive “development” projects.
The measures include House Resolution No. 47 urging to regain control and authority of the West Philippine Sea amid Chinese establishment of administrative districts in the area.
The resolution urges the national government to “uphold the interest and welfare of Filipino fisherfolk amid Beijing’s aggressive reclamation and plunder in the West Philippine Sea.”
Also filed was HB 2027 repealing the franchise of San Miguel Aerocity, which is allegedly displacing farmers and fisherfolk in Bulacan and parts of northern Metro Manila; HB 2026 that seeks to declare the Manila Bay as reclamation-free zone in line with a 2008 Supreme Court ruling; and HB 2025 to protect the country’s coastal areas from further destruction.
HB 2025 on special protection to coastal fishing communities proposes to declare fishing communities as a protected area from destructive human activities and displacements, such as reclamation projects, conversion and privatization.
It mandates the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources to identify the communities and to finalize the national map of coastal fishing communities via a fishery administrative order. It also proposes the special protection to mangrove trees and forests for sustainable small-scale fisheries.
