Font size: 
The national federation of small fisherfolk in the Philippines under Pamalakaya this week urged the national government to set aside 32 billion pesos (US$663 million) for subsidies to small fishermen across the country to cushion the impact of successive oil price increases and the current global economic and financial crisis.
The group pressed the call after oil companies led by Chevron, Shell and Petron again raised the prices of petroleum products, bringing the price of diesel to 30 pesos (US 62 cents) per liter and regular gasoline to 40 pesos (US 80 cents) per liter. According to Pamalakaya, fisherfolk employing small fishing boats use regular gasoline and consume at least 10 liters per fishing activity.
The fishers group originally submitted its subsidy request to the office of Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap in July last year, but no action has been taken so far.
The main purpose of the subsidy would be to keep the wheel of production turning in the fisheries sector in the Philippines. It is currently battered by the high prices of oil products and skyrocketing prices of fishing gear and equipment.
Under the annual production subsidy proposed by Pamalakaya, all fishermen who own small motorized boats would receive a minimum P 4,500 (US$93) monthly oil subsidy, while those who operate non-motorized boats would receive P 2,000 (US$40) monthly production subsidy.
The monthly subsidy constitutes about 50 percent of the monthly expenses for a fisherman owning a small fishing boat in his daily fish capture. The proposed measure would benefit nearly 314,000 small fishing boat operators and would cost the government 1.4 billion pesos (US$29 million) per month or 16.8 billion pesos (US$348 million) per year.
Subsidies for 630,000 non-motorized fishing-boat operators across the country would cost the government slightly less per year, for a total of 32 billion pesos per year.
The group said 100 percent of the subsidy for operators of small fishing boats would go for oil, while around 50 percent for owners of non-motorized fishing boats would go for gas. The rest would go for other production and food needs of small fishermen.
Pamalakaya said funding for these subsidies could be found by immediately and indefinitely suspending annual payments on foreign and domestic debts, which eat up more than one-third of the annual national budget.
“The proposed fishery production subsidy program is about 10 percent of the national government’s allotment to debt servicing. It would be better if we suspend, if not totally stop, paying these fraudulent loans acquired and accumulated by the previous and present administrations for their own corruption purposes,” the group said.
Pamalakaya also said the national government should oblige commercial and aquaculture operators to give their fish workers the mandated minimum wage. It also asked the president to certify as urgent the pending bill in both houses of Congress granting across-the-board wage increases to private workers.
To improve the purchasing power of Filipino fishermen, the workers and the poor, Pamalakaya said the government should scrap the 12 percent expanded value-added tax on all petroleum products, consumer goods, utilities and services.
These are doable items and sound economic measures to ease the burden and cushion the impact of the global economic and financial crisis. It is hoped that the government will listen to these concrete and practical demands.
--
(Gerry Albert Corpuz is a correspondent of Bulatlat.com, an alternative Philippine online news site. He is also head of the information department of Pamalakaya, a national federation of small fisherfolk organizations in the Philippines. His website is www.pampil.wordpress.com, and he can be contacted at themanager98@yahoo.com. ©Copyright Gerry Albert Corpuz.)
