The Fight Continues
Stop state attacks, struggle for genuine reform — peasant advocates, fisherfolk
by Casandra Peñaverde
Peasant women and fisherfolk leaders voiced grievances against state-backed and anti-people policies undermining their livelihoods during the “Punla ng Pagbabago” forum at the College of Nursing Auditorium last Oct. 9, which highlighted issues such as food security, wage disparities, and the detrimental effects of bureaucrat capitalists on agricultural and fishing communities.
Ronnel Arambulo, who recently declared his senatorial candidacy under the Makabayan coalition, took the stage to denounce the Fisheries Code or Republic Act №8550 and its amended version, RA 10654, as well as the Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Act. According to Arambulo, these laws have done little to uplift the lives of small fisherfolk.
These laws have allowed poverty to worsen in the sector by favoring businesses and the administration’s renowned reclamation projects.
“Dahil wala ni isa sa mga kasalukuyang batas ang tumutugon sa kapakanan ng mga mangingisda, nararapat na magpatupad ng isang tunay na repormang pampangisdaan na tutugon sa interes at kagalingan ng mga mangingisda at ng sambayanan,” Arambulo stressed.
Arambulo added that the reclamation in Navotas, the country’s fishing capital, is displacing small-scale fishermen and destroying mussel farms that are wrongly labeled as “obstructions” by the government. He further criticized the administration for pouring funds into projects that only destroy marine ecosystems.
Cathy Estavillo, second nominee of the Gabriela Women’s Party, highlighted the plight of peasant women, who continue to face wage disparities, repression, and state harassment in communities. Estavillo noted that peasant women typically earn only P270 a day, compared to P300-P400 for men, reflecting a glaring wage gap that leaves women further disadvantaged in an already struggling sector.
“Ang patuloy na kagutuman sa hanay ng kababaihang magbubukid ay sanhi ng panlilinlang at kawalan ng kumprehensibong plano kaugnay sa krisis sa pagkain at pagpapaunlad ng agrikultura ng bansa,” Estavillo stated.
Estavillo recounted how the government froze the bank accounts of the peasant women’s organization under false accusations of terrorism financing in 2021. Although a Manila court lifted the freeze order on some of Amihan’s bank accounts in 2022, ruling that there was no evidence of terrorism financing, she noted that there are bank accounts that remain under freeze, with the legal battle far from over.
She also said how the lackluster plans to address the food crisis continue to push peasant women into deeper poverty.
The sector leaders exposed how state resources are being funneled into programs that undermine the livelihoods of the marginalized, rather than being used to address the needs of the poor and improve local food production.
Participants in the questions and answer portion urged the government to abandon its profit-driven agenda and instead invest in programs that uplift, rather than oppress, the most vulnerable sectors of society.
