Fishers are being squeezed by rising fuel costs as successive oil price hikes push production expenses higher, progressive fisherfolk group Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) said on Friday, Jan. 23.

The group said fuel expenses now account for about 80 percent of total fishing production costs, forcing small-scale fishers to cut back on their time at sea and accept lower earnings.

“Kaakibat ng pagsirit ng presyo ng produktong petrolyo ay ang pagtaas ng gastos sa pangingisda (The surge in petroleum product prices goes hand in hand with the rising cost of fishing),” Pamalakaya Chairperson Fernando Hicap said in a statement. 

“Para makaangkop, binabawasan na lamang ng mga mangingisda ang konsumong langis na nangangahulugan ng mas maiksing oras sa laot at mas mababang kita (To cope, fisherfolk are cutting back on fuel consumption, which means spending less time at sea and earning lower income),” he added.

With oil prices continuing to climb, the group called on the Department of Agriculture (DA) to immediately roll out its Fuel Assistance Program to municipal fisherfolk, whom it said are “reeling from” mounting income losses.

Likewise, Pamalakaya renewed its call for the repeal of the Oil Deregulation Law, which it said allows oil companies to “manipulate and overprice” fuel in the domestic market.

The group noted that this week alone, diesel prices increased by P2 per liter while gasoline went up by P1 per liter, marking the fourth straight oil price hike this year.