FISHERFOLKS are not at all sold on Charter change (Cha-cha) because this will weaken the constitutional safeguards for the preservation of the marine environment and coastal communities.
Instead of pursuing a Cha-Cha, the government must be straightforward in its approach in removing the cause of the problems besetting the fisheries sector, according to Bas Umali, advocacy officer of the Tambuyog Development Center.
“Poverty in coastal communities has been due to low productivity of land-based resources or lack of access to land; low productivity of aquatic resources mainly due to habitat destruction and stock depletion; resource use conflict particularly in coastal waters; and lack of adequate basic services delivery (i.e. health, education, shelter, infrastructure, etc),” Umali said in presenting his paper titled Possible Consequences of Cha-Cha to Fisheries Industries last July 12 at the Ateneo de Manila University’s Institute of Social Order (ISO). (more…)
