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Income of fishers goes down due to high costs of petroleum products—Pamalakaya
Income of fishers goes down due to high costs of petroleum products—Pamalakaya
By Jel Santos
A fishers group said the income of fisherfolk in the country has diminished because of the cumulative increases in the price of petroleum products.
In a statement, the fisherfolk group Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) criticized the current administration for its “incompetence and negligence” amid the non-stop oil price increase and its adverse impacts on marginalized sectors, including fisherfolk.
“Diesel’s price rose by P14.40 per liter after the nine straight weeks of oil price increases from July 11 to September 8. This marks up the fuel expenses of small fisherfolk to P173, or an average of P833 per fishing trip, from P660 per fishing operation prior to the unabated oil price increases. The fishers’ group said that 80% of the entire fishing production cost still goes to fuel expenses alone,” the group noted.
Pamalakaya said that the income of fishermen is steadily declining as a result of the rising cost of petroleum products.
Fishers are forced to reduce their working hours in the sea as they do not have enough fuel to power their boats to make a living, it noted.
“From the previous regular six to eight hours at the sea, we only spend four to five hours a day because we do not have enough fuel for our boats. Even our day working at the sea is shortened; from the previous five to six days, we now only have three to four days in a week. In addition to this, there are other expenses such as the maintenance of the boat and fishing gear, and food,” Fernando Hicap, Pamalakaya chairperson, said in Filipino.
“With such high production costs, the fishermen are left with no income, even buried in debt with high interest. With the average cost of P833 for crude oil, our catch is only equivalent to P300 to P500, more often our nets don’t have any catch,” he went on.
Meanwhile, the Pamalakaya has called on the government to repeal the Oil Deregulation Law, which it said has been “empowering oil companies to overprice and manipulate the local pump prices at the expense of consumers.”