MANILA, Philippines — The battle against Public-Private Partnership (PPP) projects pursued by the Aquino administration has reached Bangkok as fisherfolk leaders insist they would affect the lives of more than 4 million people in lakeshore and coastal areas.

Leaders of the Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) criticized the PPP projects as they spoke during the conference dubbed “Empowerment Through Information: Training Program on International and Regional Developments of Relevance to Small-Scale Fisheries and Fishing Communities” that started in Bangkok on Monday and will end on January 14.

Sponsored by the International Collective in Support of Fishworkers (ICSF), the conference seeks to provide the venue for fisherfolk organizations, the fishery NGOs and social movements can utilize existing international instruments to effectively fight threats to fishing rights and livelihood.

Pamalakaya national chairperson Fernando Hicap and liaison officer Gerry Albert Corpuz took turns in castigating the PPP projects, which they claimed would violate the fishing rights of the Filipino fisherfolk and ruin the marine environment.

Hicap informed 33 fisherfolk participants from Malaysia, Indonesia, Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and India that PPP-driven projects like the Manila Bay Master Development Plan (MBMDP), the Laguna Lake Master Plan (LLMP), the Aurora Pacific Economic and Free Port zone project (APECO), the magnetite mining in Ilocos, Bicol and Eastern Visayas regions and the offshore mining projects in Palawan and nearby territorial waters in West Philippine Sea “have sacrificed the livelihood and fishing rights of millions of small fishermen to the altar of corporate greed and global capitalist exploitation.”

“The PPP of Philippine President Aquino is a current major threat to Filipino fisherfolk. These projects are worthy of nationwide rejection and an object of strong resistance and people’s protest. We ask your support in this fight,” they said.