MALOLOS
CITY—Hundreds of fisherfolk are set today to hold an early morning fluvial
parade on Manila bay and storm the Senate building’s waterfront.
Dubbed
as “Bangkaan para sagipin ang pangisdaan,” the fluvia parade will start at 7
o’clock at the C-4 terminal in Navotas City and at the Freedom Island in
Parañaque, an hour later.
All
parade participants will be on at least 40 large boats and will converge in
front of the Senate in Pasay City.
This
will coincide with today’s celebration of Fisherfolk Day based on of
Presidential Proclamation No. 261 signedin 2000 by then President Joseph
Ejercito Estrada.
Invited
to the activity are Director Asis Perez of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic
Resources (BFAR) to address concerns on overfishing and reelected Senator
Gringo Honasan to address the fisherfolk with regard to the National Land Use
and Management Act that is pending in the Senate.
Pablo
Rosales of the Save the Fisheries Now Network however said that fisherfolk have
nothing to celebrate as they are one of the basic sectors that have remained
marginalized.
In
a statement, Rosales said that fisherfolk are considered to be the poorest of
the poor with 41.4% poverty incidence as cited in the latest National
Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) report.
He
also said that that the country’s fishing grounds are heavily exploited by
commercial as well as foreign fishers like the Taiwanese and Chinese fishing
vessels that encroach on Philippine seas.
On
the other hand, seaweed farmers, mostly women, are disenfranchised by
aggressive coastal real estate development as traditional areas for seaweed and
fish drying are converted into private beach resorts, adding that fisherfolk
settlements are practically not implemented nor respected.
He
said that aside from these concerns, his group will also demand the passage of
the National Land Use and Management Act, presently pending at the Senate,a
proposed bill that will establish a separate Department of Fisheries, the
Marine Protected Area Bill, the End the Reclamation that Destroys Marine
Biodiversity bill and a call to end overfishing. Dino Balabo