(MANILA BULLETIN)

A pro-agriculture congressman is batting for a monthly fuel subsidy of not less than P1,000 for municipal fisherfolk.

“Despite the fishing sector's major contribution, our fishermen continue to be among the fundamental sectors' poorest people," AGRI Party-list Rep Wilbert T. Lee said in a statement Monday, May 15.

"Hindi po makatarungan na kung sino pa ang producer ng pagkain, sila pa ang napapabayaan at pinaka-naghihirap (It's not fair that the producers of food are the ones being neglected and are the poorest),” he noted.

Under House Bill (HB) No.8007 or the “Pantawid Pambangka Act of 2023”, the Department of Agriculture (DA) is mandated to administer the monthly "ayuda" or subsidy program, in which the amount will be revised every year to account for inflation.

The beneficiaries shall be municipal fisherfolk who fish within municipal waters, whether coastal or inland, and who use motorized fishing vessels of three gross tons or less: Provided, that they are registered under the National Program for Municipal Fisherfolk Registration of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR).

If passed into law, the program beneficiaries will be automatically enrolled and covered under the National Health Insurance program of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth). The Social Security System (SSS) shall also provide microinsurance mechanisms to beneficiaries.

The equivalent of 10 percent of any increase in the collections in the excise tax on fuel shall be earmarked for the implementation for this Act, which shall be indicated as a separate line item under the annual appropriations of the DA under the General Appropriations Act (GAA).

"In their meager income, how can our fishers provide food, medicine, education, clothing, shelter, fund for emergencies for their family?” Lee asked, adding that fishers' plight is "saddening and worrisome".

Based on the preliminary estimates of Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) 2021 poverty statistics, fisherfolk registered the highest poverty incidence rate of 30.6 percent, up from the 26.2 percent recorded in 2018.

According to the PSA's Fisheries Situation Report for Major Species, total fisheries production grew to 4,339.89 thousand metric tons (MT) or by 2.2 percent in 2022 as compared to the previous year’s output of 4,248.26 thousand MT.

The report noted increases in production in marine municipal fisheries and aquaculture, while commercial and inland municipal fisheries reported setbacks during the year.

According to the BFAR, the municipal and aquaculture sub-sectors contributed 73 percent to the total production of the fisheries sector from 2011 to 2020.