Manila, Philippines – The country’s biggest fisherfolk federation will be rooting for the progressive Anakpawis Party-list for the 2022 national elections.
During the 7th national convention of Anakpawis Party-list held in Quezon City today, the militant fishers’ group Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (PAMALAKAYA) formally declared that “small fishers across the archipelago united under the banner of PAMALAKAYA are throwing support to the party-list that genuinely represents the marginalized in the elite-dominated Congress”.
“There is not a single party-list that champions the interest of the marginalized sectors in the congress but Anakpawis. The party-list has brought the issues and concerns of the fisherfolk in the Congress through house resolutions and bills,” Ronnel Arambulo, PAMALAKAYA leader in Southern Tagalog said.
PAMALAKAYA has recorded at least three bills and three resolutions filed by Anakpawis party-list while it was occupying a seat in the congress, including:
- House Bill declaring Manila Bay as reclamation-free zone, as a measure for its genuine rehabilitation;
- a bill mandating the special protection of coastal fishing communities for sustainable small-scale fisheries in the country;
- an act mandating the provision of P15, 000 financial support to at least one million Filipinos employed in the fisheries and aquaculture sector to pump-prime the wheels of production, and as a crucial response mechanism to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic to the sector recognized as “vulnerable and marginalized”;
- a resolution urging the national government to regain control and authority over the Panatag Shoal (Scarborough) and Kalayaan Group of Islands amid the increasing presence of China in the West Philippine Sea;
- a resolution urging the congress to conduct an investigation, in aid of legislation, on the holistic impact of the 2,500-hectare Bulacan Aerotropolis project in brgy. Taliptip, Bulakan, Bulacan, especially to the poor fisherfolk and coastal residents;
- a resolution directing seeking inquiry on the suitability and sustainability of the Manila Bay beautification program or the dolomite dumping by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in the baywalk;
“These are one of the countless pro-fisherfolk, pro-people legislative measures that Anakpawis has pushed in the Congress. The 100,000 strong PAMALAKAYA members across the country vow to campaign this party-list and install its representatives in the next Congress,” ended Arambulo. ###
