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The militant LAMBAT-Bikol and Bagong Alyansang Makabayan-Bikol (BAYAN-Bikol)
expressed their support for the Sibuyan fishers who rose up in
protest to expedite salvage operations on the capsized MV Princess
of the Stars.
“We are one with the Sibuyan fishers in
demanding that the salvage operations be speeded up,” said Arieto
Radores, chairman of LAMBAT-Bikol.
Along with the Sibuyan fishers, fisher folks
most affected by the tragedy are those living along the Ragay Gulf.
At least 80 percent of the families in the area rely on fishing as
their main source of income. “Before, a kilo of most commercial
fish here would sell at an average price of P80. Now, with the fish
scare, a kilo of tulingan [mackerel tuna] sells from P40 to P20—at
least an 80-percent drop, still no one buys them,” he continued.
“Aside from speeding up the salvage operations
of the whole ship and the victims, what can be done is to prioritize
first the extraction of the endosulfan cargo as well as other toxic
materials on the ship, to ensure that they will not contaminate the
waters,” said Radores, stressing that should the monsoon rains
come before the extraction of toxic materials then the fish scare
will continue and translate into another disaster for fisher folks.
Meanwhile Tessa Lopez, public information
officer of BAYAN-Bikol said, “By extracting the toxic materials
first, the ban on fishing on the area can be lifted earlier so that
the Sibuyan fishermen can go back to their livelihood.”
“Concretely, what can be done now is for the
local and national government to subsidize or buy all the catch of
Bicolano fishermen so that we can have income. Then the government
can use the fish they purchased for other products like fish paste,
fish balls and the like. They can even give,” continued Lopez. She
noted that the temporary scheme would make the fishers happy as well
as those who would be given free fish.
As for Sibuyan fisher, the national government
and Sulpicio Lines Inc. should wholly subsidize them until they can
go back to their livelihood, because if not then they would die of
hunger. “Sulpicio Lines should be made to pay for the enormous
social and economic devastation that its recklessness caused,”
said Lopez.
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