Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) once again called on the national government to “end importation” and instead “strengthen the local production” of fish.

According to the fisherfolk group, importation harms local production and displaces small-scale fishermen, forcing them to abandon their livelihood and seek "odd jobs" that tend to be a more stable source of income as compared to fishing.

To highlight its intensity, the group said the Philippine government imported around 190,000 metric tons of fish from China, Vietnam, and Taiwan in the last five years.

“This posed an adverse impact to local production because imported fish further pulled down the farm gate prices of local products of Filipino fishers,” said Pamalakaya on Saturday, Jan. 7.

To prevent the “detrimental effects” of importation, Pamalakaya challenged President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. to repeal the existing policies of importation in the country, including that of Fisheries Administrative Order 195 which details the rules and regulations of the importation of fresh, chilled, frozen fish, as well as other fisheries and aquatic products.

Along with this petition, the fisherfolk group likewise renewed their call for the provision of P15,000 production subsidy to almost two million fishermen nationwide, saying that this would alleviate the suffering of the marginalized sector and will help “boost local production.”