As part of its “tigil-palaot” or fishing strike protest amid the big-time oil price hike in the country, fishers’ group Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) suspended their fishing operations on Tuesday, March 15.

The protests were simultaneously held in major coastal communities in Laguna de Bay and in Manila Bay, said Pamalakaya.

“The tigil-palaot is our protest against the overpricing of petroleum products that has already left us to bankruptcy and debts. We likewise protest the government’s neglect to correct this fraudulent practice on overpricing of giant oil firms,” said Ronnel Arambulo, national spokesperson of Pamalakaya.

Pamalakaya, in a press statement, said that at least 80 percent of the entire fishing production cost goes to fuel alone.

“Malayo na ang agwat ng kinikita namin sa kabuuang gastos sa produksyon sa kada palaot. Normal sa isang mangingisda ang mabaon sa utang dahil abot-langit ang presyo ng langis habang patuloy ang pagbulusok ng kita sa pangingisda (The gap between our income and the total cost of production per harvest is wide. It is normal for a fisherman to get into debt because the price of oil is continuously increasing as fishing income continues to decline),” Arambulo added.

The fishers’ group earlier stated that many small-scale fishers are abandoning their livelihood and seeking “odd jobs” that tend to be a “more stable” source of income as compared to fishing.