MUNICIPAL fishermen are bracing themselves for the impact of an increase in the price of oil in the next few days because of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN).
The Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) expects the oil price hike to impact municipal fishermen, believed to be the poorest sector in the Philippines.
Fishermen use either gasoline or diesel to run their small fishing boats or banca.
The Department of Energy said that, under the TRAIN law, gasoline is subject to a higher excise tax of P7 per liter, from the previous P4.35.
Meanwhile, the new tax rate for diesel and auto liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) is P2.50 per liter; for kerosene, P3.
“Actually, we are investigating in [different] areas the price of gasoline and diesel,” Jam Pinpin, public information officer of Pamalakaya, told the BusinessMirror.
Pinpin said any price increase, whether it is for gasoline or diesel, will adversely affect municipal fishermen.
“In Navotas, fishermen normally use diesel, while in Cavite, they use gasoline,” he added.
Each fishing trip costs municipal fishermen P150 to P200 for gasoline or diesel alone.
In Bacoor, Cavite, Pinpin said some pump-gasoline stations have already increased the price of diesel from P34 to P35. The impact of TRAIN is expected to cause the price of diesel to increase.
Fishermen in Bacoor consume an average of 10 liters of diesel per fishing trip, requiring them to set aside P350.
However, the output of every fishing expedition is uncertain. In some areas, fish catch averages 3 kilos to 5 kilos a day, barely enough to cover the cost of gasoline and other relevant costs when fishing out in open seas.
Municipal fish production in the Philippines continues to dwindle as against commercial fish production.
The group blames the dwindling of municipal fish production to what it describes as “repressive provisions” of the amended Fisheries Code under Republic Act 10654, including registration and licensing schemes.
Citing the recent report of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) during the third quarter of 2017, the group said total volume of production for fisheries was estimated at 971,000 metric tons, 3.89 percent less than the same quarter of the year 2016. According to the statistics, municipal fisheries production went down by 0.68 during the quarter alone.
The fishing restrictions, such as registration and licensing schemes that curtail the fishing activities of small fishermen affect the fish production, Pamalakaya said.
This worsens the depleting fish catch in the municipal waters due to the continuous entry of commercial fishing fleets that exploit municipal water resources, Pamalakaya National Chairman Fernando Hicap said in a statement.
“Small fishers bear the brunt of high costs of boat registration and licensing fees, failure to comply subjects them with another costly fine and strict penalties like community service, confiscation of fishing gears and, worse, imprisonment,” Hicap said.
Hicap, a local fisherman in Rosario, Cavite, said he spent around P800 for the registration of his fishing boat.
In the Caraga region in Mindanao, aside from their fishing boats, fishermen have to register their backward gears used for fishing, including the fishing rod, pail, dipper and flashlights.
“Under the guise of monitoring the fish stock in the sea, the government imposed highly absurd fishing rules that are meant to abate fishing activities of small fishers. Some fishermen have been discouraged to continue fishing because of these unjust restrictions, which is actually the central objective of the amended Fisheries Code to sever the traditional capture fisheries and give way to the aquaculture industry,” Hicap said.
The group is calling for the scrapping of the amended Fisheries Code and vowed to push for a new genuine fisheries reform law that will strengthen local fish production and empower municipal fishermen in asserting their right over municipal fishing grounds.