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Asia News Network
3 hours ago
- Business
- Asia News Network
P20/kilo rice for Filipino fishermen an ‘insufficient consolation': fisherfolk group
August 20, 2025 MANILA – The Department of Agriculture's (DA) plan to include fisherfolk among those who can buy rice at P20 per kilo is nothing but a 'small and insufficient consolation,' a fisherfolk group said Tuesday. The DA recently announced that starting August 29, more than 2.8 million registered fisherfolk will be added to the list of government beneficiaries eligible to buy rice at P20 per kilo. But for the group Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya), the move was merely a 'tokenistic' gesture that does little to address the country's rice production crisis. 'Similar to the farmers' position, the offer of P20-per-kilo rice for fisherfolk is inadequate and merely a small consolation,' Pamalakaya National Chairperson Fernando Hicap said in Filipino in an issued statement. 'This does not concretely address the root of the production crisis, which is also behind the high price of rice in the marke,' he added. Hicap stressed that to meaningfully lower rice prices, the government must take 'concrete actions' such as strengthening the National Food Authority, dismantling private traders and cartels, and providing substantial support for rice farmers' production. The fisherfolk group also backed calls from various farmers' organizations for the immediate repeal of Republic Act No. 11203, or the Rice Liberalization Law, which they said has 'led to depressed farm-gate prices, unregulated rice importation, and further impoverishment of our rice farmers.'
Filipino Times
13-07-2025
- Filipino Times
Tawilis prices crash amid Taal Lake dumping allegations, say fishers
The price of tawilis, a freshwater sardine endemic to Taal Lake, has dropped to an all-time low following disturbing claims that the bodies of missing sabungeros (cockfighting enthusiasts) were dumped in the lake, a local fishers' group reported on Sunday, July 13. According to Pamalakaya, a kilo of tawilis in some Cavite markets now sells for ₱100, down from the usual ₱250. The group said this price collapse is severely hurting local fishers who are already struggling due to months of limited fishing caused by the southwest monsoon (Habagat). Despite reassurances from the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) that Taal fish remain safe to eat, public fear continues to impact demand. Pamalakaya is calling on the Department of Agriculture and BFAR to step in by buying fish at fair prices and encouraging the public to support Taal Lake fish products. The price drop comes amid claims from a witness in the sabungeros case that the victims' bodies were dumped in the lake. Authorities have recovered several sacks from Taal and are currently investigating if they are connected to the missing persons case.
The Star
01-07-2025
- Politics
- The Star
Philippine fishers' group rejects US ammo factory in Subic Bay
Philippine fisherfolk are against a planned US ammunition production and storage facility in Subic Bay. - Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN SUBIC BAY FREEPORT, Philippines: The fisherfolk group Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) on Monday (July 1) 'strongly rejected' the proposal in the US Congress to establish an ammunition production and storage facility in this former American naval base. In an interview, Pamalakaya national chair Fernando Hicap urged the public, as well as the legislators, to reject the military installation that will 'make us a target of US rival countries that posed potential threat to the national security and to the livelihood of fisherfolk.' 'We have already removed US military bases from our soil; we are concerned that their renewed presence is aimed at using the Philippines as a strategic location for provocative actions against China,' Hicap said. He added, 'We don't want to be caught in the middle of a war between the US and its rivals, especially since we know that it will also cause great harm to the country's fisheries. Hicap explained the fishing community would be threatened 'because of the toxic chemical wastes that the ammo and arms factory will discharge into the water.' The US Marine Corps opened a warehouse facility in February at a Naval Supply Depot inside this freeport to store and enable to preposition their humanitarian aid and disaster relief for their Indo-Pacific region operations. During that time, the US Marine Corps Col. Luke Watson, a commanding officer of Blount Island Command based in Jacksonville, Florida, also met Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) Chairman and Administrator Eduardo Jose Aliño to discuss port operations, focusing on efficiencies needed for a sustainable logistics node. Aliño expressed his full support for the ingress of the equipment to the freeport, saying that it is one of the 'most strategic areas' to deploy aid to other areas around the Indo-Pacific Region, 'as the area has become the logistics hub for maritime and aviation industry in the country.' According to Watson, it is one of their ashore sites as part of the Marine Corps' global prepositioning network, but 'there will be no ammunition, just motor transportation, communication and engineering.' But recently, US lawmakers have been proposing the establishment of a joint ammunition manufacturing and storage facility here. This move aims to address the lack of forward-staged ammunition manufacturing in the Indo-Pacific region amid rising tensions in the South China Sea between China, the Philippines, and the US. Subic Bay was the site of the US' largest overseas naval facility until Washington withdrew from its military bases in the Philippines in 1991. Since then, both Philippine and American military forces have been utilising the 262-square-mile area to facilitate resupply, refueling, and repair of vessels. Subic's port facilities also support the delivery of US military equipment into the Philippines during bilateral exercises. In a June 16 report, the US House committee on appropriations said it was 'concerned with the lack of a forward-staged ammunition manufacturing facility in the Indo-Pacific.' The committee ordered the US Department of Defence, the Department of State and the International Development Finance Corp. to study the feasibility of establishing a 'joint ammunition manufacturing and storage facility' at the former American naval base in Subic Bay, which is now an economic freeport zone. The report comes amid the heightening tensions in the South China Sea between China and the Philippines, whose allies include the United States. - Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN
