TO AVERT CRISIS IN FISH INDUSTRY
Villar pushes gov't support for fishermen

Senate President Manny Villar asked the government to extend fuel and livelihood subsidies to the country's small fishermen who are reeling from the effects of massive flooding and the sinking of MV Princess of the Stars in the wake of typhoon Frank.

Villar said, "Our fishermen are one of the most adversely affected by the calamities and they deserve help from government to enable them and the fishing industry to recover from the effects of the typhoon and the high cost of fuel."

The Nacionalista party president, an advocate of entrepreneurship, said livelihood support and fuel subsidy are essential to be extended at this time to severely affected fishermen to allow them to cope with the trying times.

Small fishermen whose fishing equipment and bancas were destroyed by the typhoon deserve to be helped, he underscored.

After being forced to give up their livelihood for more than three weeks, fishermen in San Fernando town in Romblon staged a protest fluvial parade against the owner of the capsized MV Princess of the Stars. The government earlier imposed a fishing ban on San Fernando after learning the capsized ship contained a shipment of endosulfan, a toxic pesticide.

In Iloilo, the recent typhoon Frank left the fish industry poorer by at least P407 million, according to the Iloilo Provincial Agriculture Office. Damages and losses include at least P304.2 million in aquaculture and P112.8 million in municipal fishing.

The flooding brought heavy losses to fish producers and fish pond operators who lost dikes and fishponds to floods. Tons of ready-to-harvest fish stocks were lost after the fishponds overflowed, provincial agriculturist Ildefonso Toledo said.

Villar said fishermen also deserve diesel subsidy like that recently extended to public utility drivers. "Almost 60 percent of the retail price of galunggong, dilis, tulingan, matangbaka, alumahan, tambakol, and bisugo represents fuel expenses," Villar said, referring to the top seven species caught in municipal waters or the body of water 15 kilometers from the coastline.

"If the government was able to put in place a sytem allowing PUV drivers and operators to buy discounted diesel, it can do likewise for bancas and fishing boats which are fewer in number," the Senate president said.

Villar met today with the Alliance of Philippine Fishing Federations Inc., a nationwide organization of subsistence and commercial fishermen urging an amendment to the Philippine Fisheries Code of 1998, the granting of loans to buy second-hand vessels, and fuel subsidy. The Senate President backed a P2-discount on fuel for the fishermen.

The Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) earlier warned of a nationwide fish strike in the wake of their difficulties.