US troops seen in Bicol for war games

By Delfin Mallari Jr. Southern Luzon Bureau

LUCENA CITY — American military personnel have been inspecting various sites in the Bicol region for the joint US-RP military exercises in April, fisherfolk here said over the weekend.

The Lakas ng Mangingisda ng Bicol (Lambat-Bicol, Forces of the Bicol Fishermen) expressed fear of being displaced from their traditional fishing grounds as a result of the security preparations for the Balikatan (Shoulder to Shoulder) exercises.

Quoting an initial report by the Lambat-Bicol, Fernando Hicap, chairman of the nationwide fishers’ alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya, National Forces of the Fishers Movement of the Philippines), said several unidentified US military personnel were seen inspecting spme coastal villages in Masbate City and towns of Mobo, Uson, and Cataingan in Masbate province.

Hicap said Lambat-Bicol also noted the early presence of US troops in Oas, Albay, particularly in the farming villages of San Pascual, San Miguel, and Talisay, where the Army’s 5th engineering battalion has been based.

The Pamalakaya leader also said that based on the report of Lambat-Bicol, a number of US troops were spotted in Irosin, Sorsogon. Aside from Albay, Sorsogon, and Masbate, Hicap claimed that the “Balikatan” would also cover Camarines Norte and Camarines Sur.

The Balikatan is part of the mutual defense treaty between the Philippines and the United States. Its primary objective is to improve the “interoperability” of the two countries’ armed forces for defense.

Citing military intelligence information, Hicap said US war ships would avail of the interconnecting bodies of water in the Bicol region namely the Ragay Gulf, Albay Gulf, and Sorsogon Bay that join the provinces of Camarines Sur, Camarines Norte, Albay, Sorsogon, and Masbate for the loading and unloading of US troops and personnel.

Hicap said the fishermen in Bicol have been bracing for a fishing ban by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources in areas to be covered by the annual war games.

“We saw it coming. There’s no recourse for us but to face and fight this anti-fisherfolk Balikatan exercises in the sea, in the parliament of the streets and in the court of public opinion,” Hicap said in a statement sent to Philippine Daily Inquirer, parent company of INQUIRER.net.

The fishers group claimed that over a 100,000 fishermen would lose their livelihood to the “crazy and shameful military stint.”

“We will not allow this puppet government to sacrifice our rights and livelihood to please their Washington-based military puppeteer,” said the Pamalakaya leader.

Reports said some 400 American doctors, engineers and nurses, belonging predominantly to the military, would join the month-long exercise to provide humanitarian aid to depressed areas in Albay, Sorsogon and Masbate.

According to the Philippine military, the three provinces are considered hotbeds of the communist insurgency in the Bicol region.

Military officials in the region have assured war games critics that the aims of the exercises were “peace and development” in the form of medical missions and engineering works.

Wary of the joint US-RP war games, the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) has ordered its armed wing, the New People’s Army, to attack Filipino and American military forces that would participate in the military exercises.

Hicap said the RP-US Balikatan exercises were not only meant to gain future access to rebel-controlled territories but would also involve intelligence and military operations against militant groups in Bicol, which the AFP and the US State Department have labeled as “communist front organizations.”

Fisherfolk Sail Cebu-Bohol Strait to Oppose Aussie Offshore Mining Firm

The offshore mining in Cebu-Bohol Strait and other parts of the Visayan basin will affect the livelihood of more than 100,000 small fishermen and 500,000 dependents, and will further exacerbate the problem of food security of 87 million Filipinos.

BY GERRY ALBERT CORPUZ
Bulatlat
Volume VIII, Number 30, August 31 – September 6, 2008

ARGAO, CEBU- Cebu-based fisherfolk activists belonging to Pamana-Sugbo, an affiliate of the leftwing fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) staged a fluvial protest, Aug. 28, against offshore mining.

NorAsia Energy Limited, an Australian offshore mining company, plans to conduct oil and gas exploration at the Cebu-Bohol Strait.

Pamalakaya National Chair Fernando Hicap said that some 50 small fishing boats with 200 fishermen on board sailed from Sibonga town to Argao town in Cebu province to dramatize their opposition against what his group called the “Australian economic colonialization of Cebu-Bohol Strait.”

The Pamalakaya leader said that Bokkana-Bohol, its provincial chapter in Bohol province, is also planning to stage another fluvial protest in towns affected by the ambitious offshore mining project.

“This is just a dress rehearsal. The Australian mining firm should expect more daring sea-based protest actions in the near future against their anti-fisherfolk and anti-environment mining escapade in Cebu-Bohol Strait,” Hicap warned.

In Cebu City, Pamana-Sugbo spokesperson Wilbert Dimol confirmed Hicap’s statement that there would be more protests to pressure Malacañang, the Department of Energy (DoE) and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to scrap the government contract with NorAsia and stop the Office of the President from selling the Cebu-Bohol Strait and other parts of the Visayan Sea to international oil and gas explorers.

“We hope to double the number of fishing boats and the number of small fishermen in the next fluvial protest. The fisherfolk and the coastal village people want NorAsia out of Cebu-Bohol Strait,” Dimol added.

Letter to Australian PM

Last month, Pamalakaya emailed a three-page open letter to Prime Minister Kevin Rudd of the Australian Labor Party urging the Australian premier to order NorAsia to leave Cebu-Bohol Strait.

The group, in their letter to Rudd, asserted that the offshore mining in Cebu-Bohol Strait and the entire East Visayan basin would pave way for the systematic and gross destruction of the marine environment.

Pamalakaya told the Australian PM that the ‘far-reaching effects of oil and gas exploration even during its exploratory or prospecting stage prior to production and extraction are very certain based on the country’s previous experience with other offshore mining activities staged by foreign oil and gas groups.’

The letter was sent to the House of Representatives of the Parliament House of Australia based in Canberra.

The letter was sent last July 10 after the group learned that NorAsia Energy Limited was able to secure Area 8 Service Contract 69 that would allow the Australian oil and gas group to explore 7,400 square kilometers of marine waters encompassing the Cebu-Bohol Strait, a narrow sea strait separating the island provinces of Cebu and Bohol, and parts of Leyte in the East Visayan basin.

“It is over a month now, still there’s no response from Rudd and his labor party in Australia. This is a matter of life and death to the struggling fisherfolk of Cebu, Bohol and across the Visayas. The silence of Australian Prime Minister is puzzling us. Is he, as well as his colleagues in their labor party, a stockholder of Otto Energy, the mother firm of NorAsia?” Pamalakaya asked.

The group said the entire offshore mining activity will cover 445,000 hectares of marine waters over a seven-year period based on the agreement signed by NorAsia and its Filipino partner-the TransAsia Oil and Energy Development Corporation. The agreement was sanctioned by the DoE.

In 2007, NorAsia acquired 146 square kilometers of 3D seismic data over two prospects in Service Contract 51. It said Area 8 of Service Contract 69 offers significant follow-up potential in additional structures if initial drilling in Service Contract 512 is successful.

NorAsia said Service Contract 69 has approximately 3,000 kilometers of existing 2D seismic and an active petroleum system as shown by the abundant onshore oil seeps and seismic supported direct hydrocarbon indicators on prospects in the area.

214,000 air pollutants

In their letter to Rudd, Pamalakaya asserted that many studies revealed that offshore mining causes a significant amount of air pollution. Each offshore oil platform generates approximately 214,000 pounds of air pollutants each year. An average exploration well for natural gas could generate 50 tons of nitrogen oxides, 13 tons of carbon monoxide, six tons of sulfur dioxide and five tons of volatile organic hydrocarbons.

“Recent findings also revealed that oil and gas exploration activities could lead to massive production of other toxic waste materials such as cadmium which causes lung cancer; lead which causes gastrointestinal diseases, blood and kidney disorders,
mental retardation and affects the nervous system; chromium which causes lung and liver cancers, kidney and other respiratory illness,” the militant group added.

Pamalakaya said if Nor Asia will push its offshore mining, a severe fish crisis will happen. It could lead to a dramatic decrease of 600,000 metric tons in the yearly production of fish in the country or approximately 20 percent annually.

The offshore mining in Cebu-Bohol Strait and other parts of the Visayan basin will affect the livelihood of more than 100,000 small fishermen and 500,000 dependents, and will further exacerbate the problem of food security of 87 million Filipinos.

The offshore mining all over the Visayan Sea will have a devastating impact on fish production in Region VI composed of provinces Aklan, Antique, Capiz, Guimaras,
Iloilo and Negros Occidental which account for an average for 350,000 metric tons of fish harvest per year, while Region VII composed of Negros Oriental, Bohol, Cebu and Siquijor account for 205,000 metric tons of fish produced.

Region VIII is made up of Biliran, Eastern Samar, Leyte, Northern Samar, Western Samar and Southern Leyte yield and average of 100,000 metric tons of fish per year.

Moreover, oil and gas drilling operations produce huge amounts of water waste ranging from 1,500 to 2,000 metric tons of highly toxic water waste materials per drilling. The seismic tests, which are part of the exploration stage, damage the hearing organs of marine species, cause hemorrhage in body tissues, and damage their reproductive organs.

Pamalakaya said seismic blasting could cause behavioral modifications and reduce or eliminate available habitat for breeding, spawning, foraging and migration. Seismic noises can alter fish distribution by tens of kilometers and can elicit physiological
stress on neural-immune responses in marine organisms.

The group also said seismic tests damage plankton eggs and larvae found in the immediate vicinity of airgun, and reduce catches in commercial fishers. It also
damages swim bladders of fishes and lungs of marine mammals.

“We believe stopping NorAsia from destroying our marine resources in the name of corporate super profits is a tough act, but this is the politically, morally and legally correct way to address the concern of our fisherfolk and the Filipino public in general,” Pamalakaya said. Bulatlat

P100-B fund Campaign Behind Atienza’s Manila Bay Noise, Says Fishers’ Group

The left-leaning fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) said aggressive fund-sourcing is the ultimate motive for Environment Secretary Joselito Atienza’s current talk on rehabilitation of the Manila Bay, which the group said has never been a priority of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) since Mrs. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo assumed the presidency in 2001.

BY GERRY ALBERT CORPUZ
Contributed to Bulatlat
Vol. VIII, No. 28, August 17-23, 2008

The left-leaning fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) said aggressive fund-sourcing is the ultimate motive for Environment Secretary Joselito Atienza’s current talk on rehabilitation of the Manila Bay, which the group said has never been a priority of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) since Mrs. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo assumed the presidency in 2001.

“All of a sudden Secretary Atienza transformed himself into a crusader for the environment and called on the World Bank (WB), the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and other funding agencies here and abroad to finance the P100-billion ($2.21 billion at the Aug. 15 exchange rate of $1:P45.31) Manila Bay rehabilitation plan. This is moneymaking at its best,” Pamalakaya national chair Fernando Hicap said in a press statement sent to Bulatlat.

Hicap added: “Secretary Atienza even mentioned the problem of climate change and global warming indicating that Malacañang and the DENR are set to make an ambitious project proposal for Manila Bay rehabilitation. P100 billion is P100 billion and its a huge fortune for the corrupt regime of Mrs. Arroyo.”

On Aug. 15, Secretary Atienza urged various donor agencies to help the national government in restoring the quality of Manila Bay by providing support to the DENR’s plan to put up water treatment facilities that would clear water wastes before these come out into the river and out into the bay.

Secretary Atienza said setting up the water treatment facility alone would cost the national government at least P25 billion ($551.6 billion) in taxpayers’ money. He said water concessionaires Maynilad of the Lopez group and Manila Water of the Ayala group have yet to comply with their agreement with the national government regarding the setting up of water waste treatment facilities.

In a press statement released last week, a copy of which was obtained by Bulatlat, the environment chief said all is not lost if Maynilad and Manila Water would comply with the contract the water companies signed with the government to construct a sewage treatment facility for Manila Bay.

The DENR chief said the deterioration of the water in Manila Bay will continue as long as wastewater from houses, the domestic waste of residences continue to flow from the Pasig River to Manila Bay that connects Cavite, the National Capital Region (NCR) and the provinces of Bulacan and Bataan.

Atienza said the second major contributor of Manila Bay waters’ deterioration is the proliferation of fishpens along the coast of the bay from Cavite to Bataan. He ordered the demolition of all illegal fishpens in Manila Bay starting Aug. 26.

He said the participation of local government units in Manila Bay rehabilitation is also necessary to help the national government battle huge environmental problems confronting the bay which he said could be the country’s engine for economic development, because the government could set up all kinds of businesses along the 190 kilometer coast.

Not happy

Pamalakaya rebuked Atienza’s theories that the dumping of untreated water wastes and the proliferation of fish pens are to be blamed for the deterioration of the waters of Manila Bay, adding that the DENR secretary is misleading the public.

The militant group said the full-blast commercialization of Manila Bay that started during the time of the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos up to the present administration of President Arroyo is the main reason the 190-kilometer bay is on the brink of general collapse.

“Please allow us to state the real score about Manila Bay. Eighty percent of the untreated water wastes that are thrown or dumped into the bay come from industries and commercial establishments situated along the bay. The reclamation activities of the government that began during the Marcos era up and which continue at present are also destroying Manila Bay and have prevented the ecosystem and marine life from regenerating,” Pamalakaya stated.

“We are not happy with the way the national government is treating Manila Bay. We are being blamed for its deterioration. Why us? We are not destroyers of natural resources and marine environment. We cannot destroy our main source of livelihood. It is impossible for us to do that, because destroying Manila Bay is like destroying our basis for existence. In fact, we are victims here,” the group said.

The militant group said about 20,000 hectares of Manila Bay waters have been subjected to reclamation to pave way for the construction of special economic zones in Bataan and Cavite, the commercial spaces presently occupied by Manila Film Center, the GSIS (Government Service Insurance System) Building in Pasay City, the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) and Folk Arts Theater in Manila, and the SM Mall of Asia and other commercial companies in Pasay City.

The militant group said Secretary Atienza has given the state-owned Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor) the environmental clearance certificate to develop the 90-hectare reclaimed casino and resort complex in Manila Bay that will begin in the third quarter of the year. Pagcor said companies with approved proposals must invest at least one billion U.S. dollars for their projects, with initial $400-million investments in the first two years.

On top of the $-15 billion casino project to be constructed along  Manila Bay, Pamalakaya said Secretary Atienza had granted ECC to the ambitious Cavite Coastal Road Project II that would involve reclamation of more than 8,000 hectares of coastal waters along Manila Bay from Bacoor to Cavite City.

Reports said aside from coastal road that would link Manila to Cavite, an international seaport will be constructed and will be annexed to the revive Sangley Point, a former US military base.

Pamalakaya said close to 3 million coastal people in Metro Manila and Cavite are still dependent on fishing as a principal source of livelihood, and any move to transform or convert Manila Bay for other purposes like the $15-billion casino project and the Cavite Phase II Coastal Road project will have a killing impact on the livelihood of small fishermen, aside from the fact that they would be demolished from their communities, once construction of support structures and establishments begins.

“From 1992 to 1995, the demolitions of coastal shanties became an everyday ordeal in Pasay Reclamation area. Houses were uprooted almost daily. Small and big time bribery to divide the communities were conducted to facilitate the demolition of coastal communities,” the group said.

The setting up of casino and resorts, including SM’s Mall of Asia was included in the master plan of the government known as Manila Bay Master Development Plan that officially started during the time of President Ramos and projected to end between 2020 and 2025.

Pamalakaya recalled that 3,500 small fisherfolk in Pasay Reclamation Area, and another 3,000 coastal and urban poor families along the coastal shores of Parañaque were evicted by the government of former President Ramos to pave way for the construction of the proposed casino that would make the Philippines the Las Vegas of Asia.

Class suit

Pamalakaya said it is contemplating on filing a separate class suit case against Secretary Atienza if he refused to stop government reclamation activities along Manila Bay, which the group said contributes to its major destruction.

“It is being considered by leaders and members of Pamalakaya in Manila Bay. We will sit and talk about this legal battle and finalize it maybe not later than this week,” the group said.

The fisherfolk group said it would mobilize pro-bono and pro-environment lawyers in their case against Atienza and other government officials that would include President Arroyo.

Eight years ago, environmental lawyer Antonio Oposa, Jr. and concerned citizens of Manila Bay filed a class suit against the government for remiss in its constitutional duty to rehabilitate the bay, which they described as a huge toilet that has not been flushed for years.

The case was filed at the Court of Appeals (CA), but Secretary Atienza filed a motion before the Supreme Court urging the high tribunal to dismiss the case before CA.

Atienza, in last week’s Supreme Court hearing on their motion, revealed that he government has already completed a 108-page detailed plan on Manila Bay coastal strategy, which would demand no less than P100 billion in total budget for the bay’s rehabilitation. Contributed to Bulatlat

Fisher-folk in the Philippines Oppose Bilateral Trade Accord with Japan

“In the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement, particularly articles twenty-eight and twenty-nine in the agreement, outlines that huge fishing fleets from Japan will be allowed to explore our national waters in the Philippines, particularly our exclusive economic zones.”

BY STEFAN CHRISTOFF
Contributed to Bulatlat
Vol. VIII, No. 27, August 10-16, 2008

Opposition to a bilateral trade accord between Japan and the Philippines is growing increasingly public throughout the Pacific archipelago and this week Pamalakaya, a national fisher-folk alliance, announced a national campaign to oppose the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA).

As negotiations within international trade institutions such as the World Trade Organization (WTO) continue to falter, multiple G8 nations, such as Japan, the U.S. and Canada, are switching their attention to negotiating bilateral or regional trade accords throughout the world. Bilateral trade accords generally articulate a similar economic vision common to the WTO, which views natural resources, public sector institutions and the environment in terms of rapid economic profit.

In the Philippines, Pamalakaya is standing to oppose the bilateral accord with Japan because articles within the agreement will open exclusive economic zones in the Philippines to Japanese fishing corporations. National waters in the Philippines which already are facing problems of over fishing would fall prey to major factory ships from Japan, a stark different to the traditional fishing methods that the majority of fisher-folk in the Philippines utilize until today. Impacts on the environment and over fishing by Japanese corporations are major concerns expressed by fisher-folk across the Philippines many who are already struggling to survive.

This is an interview conducted by Stefan Christoff with Fernando Hicap, the national chair for Pamalakaya, the national fisher-folk alliance set to launch a national campaign against the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA).

Fernando Hicap: Pamalakaya [a national fisher-folk alliance] is strongly opposing the ratification of the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA), as the agreement will allow tuna factory ships from Japan to explore and exploit exclusive economic zones in the Philippines. Under the free trade agreement, Japanese corporate ships will enter the most plentiful fishing grounds in the Philippines. For this reason we are opposing this so-called free trade agreement with Japan.

Fishing grounds in the Philippines aren’t healthy today mainly due to foreign actors or companies working in our waters. Today, waters around the Philippines are over fished. This proposed trade agreement with Japan will mean that national marine resources in the Philippines will be opened completely for foreign companies, leading to more overfishing, a very serious situation. Small fishers in the Philippines will be heavily impacted by this agreement; the livelihood of fisher-folk could be taken away due to overfishing by foreign corporations.

Stefan Christoff: Can you explain how the free-trade agreement with Japan will impact the income and ability to survive of fisher-folk in the Philippines, please outline in detail how this agreement will impact local fishers in the country?

Fernando Hicap: First it’s important to highlight that the fishing industry in the Philippines is basic compared to other countries. In the Philippines fishers don’t often have the equipment to explore the national waters in the same way as foreign fishing corporations. Also, traditional equipment often used in the Philippines means that the local industry is much more labor intensive than in other countries, while the end result equals much less product, much less fish for the market due to traditional fishing methods.

Other countries clearly want access to our waters, countries with corporations that have much more advanced technology which would be used to rapidly fish and eventually deplete our waters. In the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement, particularly articles twenty-eight and twenty-nine in the agreement, outlines that huge fishing fleets from Japan will be allowed to explore our national waters in the Philippines, particularly our exclusive economic zones.

Essentially this agreement will mean the free-wheeling exploitation of our resources in the Philippines by Japanese fishing corporations, who will harvest our tuna. Elements in the agreement that directly allow the exploitation of our national waters in the Philippines are alarming. Stipulations in the trade agreement with Japan, will cause massive depletion of fish from waters in the Philippines and from our exclusive economic zones.

Based on our studies and general industry standards, a one-ton Japanese factory fishing ship will most likely harvest at least fifty-thousand metric tons of tuna each year. Japanese companies generally work with a number of factory ships, so once they are allowed to enter the exclusive economic zones in the Philippines they will potentially collect hundreds-of-thousands of tons of tuna from the Philippines each year. This trade agreement will cause the rapid depletion and over exploitation of fishing waters in the Philippines.

Small fishers in the Philippines can’t compete with foreign products entering our country, these products are often highly subsidized by other governments, while the government in the Philippines, will not subsidize the local fishing industry. Foreign marine products flowing into our local markets in the Philippines will kill our local industry, an industry that equals survival for many small fishers.

Stefan Christoff: Concerning access to resources within waters in the Philippines, could you talk about what the people within your movement, fisher-folk in your organization, are saying concerning the proposed free-trade agreement with Japan?

Fernando Hicap: Fisher-folk in the Philippines are opposing this one-sided economic agreement with Japan, as this agreement isn’t intended to support the survival or independence for fisher-folk in the Philippines, this agreement is intended to support the Japanese commercial fishing industry, particularly the tuna industry. Japanese companies will make hundreds-of-millions of dollars from fishing for tuna in the Philippines. If this agreement goes through, if this agreement is signed, it will equal major profit for Japanese corporations.

Opening our waters in the Philippines to big corporations will ensure the destruction of our marine environment in the Philippines, so as a movement we stand against allowing foreign companies to enter our delicate waters.

Also, this agreement will potentially displace over one hundred thousand fisher-folk and related workers from the coast in the Philippines. If Japanese companies are given access to the exclusive economic zones, local workers will lose their jobs, lose their livelihood and be forced to relocate to urban poor areas. JPEPA clearly aims to support Japan’s commercial fishing industry, not fisher-folk in the Philippines and details within the agreement make it extremely clear.

Stefan Christoff: Today in the Philippines different social movements are strongly opposing the current government headed by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and backed by the U.S., protests have been taking place across the country in recent years calling on the President to step-down. In this context wondering you thoughts on why the current administration in the Philippines is supporting this agreement with Japan.

Fernando Hicap: President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is not listening to the people of the Philippines. Basically the current government is aiming for political support from Japan, which is why Arroyo is pushing this one-sided agreement with Japan. President Arroyo is fighting for political survival and one key to maintaining power is getting support from powerful foreign government, such as Japan, which is an extremely powerful country in Asia and internationally.

Present Arroyo is currently facing a political crisis, stemming from credible accusations of election fraud in 2004 and also major corruption scandals within the government. Also the current administration is facing a growing international scandal surrounding hundreds of forced disappearances and political killings targeting activists in the Philippines, which U.N. reports have linked to the Armed Forces of the Philippines and current administration.

Given these conditions President Arroyo is soliciting support from international powers, such as Japan, which pushes forward negotiations on the JPEPA agreement. President Arroyo is seeking outside support, in this case political support from Japan, given the major turmoil in the Philippines and strong popular opposition to the current administration within the Philippines.

Stefan Christoff: Wondering if you could talk about how free-trade agreements or policy has impacted the Philippines until now, now we are discussing the proposed bilateral trade agreement with Japan. Wondering your thoughts on how free-trade agreements have impacted the Philippines in general and specifically fisher-folk in the country?

Fernando Hicap: All free-trade agreements that the Philippines has entered, dating back to the dictatorship under Ferdinand Marcos, have not benefited the majority of Filipino people or those working in the fishery sector. Due to such trade agreements we have been reduced to modern day slaves in our own country, forced as fisher-folk to act as workers or product providers for major international corporations and countries like Japan and the U.S.

Trade agreements or membership to the World Trade Organization (WTO) has done nothing to improve the lives of fisher-folk or most workers in the Philippines. Contributed to Bulatlat

Stefan Christoff is a journalist and community organizer who contributes this interview to http://www.bulatlat.com. This interview was originally produced for the Fighting FTAs project, an international project that provides a global picture on free trade agreements (FTAs), and insight into struggles being waged by social movements fighting back. http://www.fightingftas.org

Fishers’ Group to Spearhead ‘JPEPA-Free Zone’ Campaign

The anti-JPEPA (Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement) fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) is set
to lead an across-the-country “JPEPA-free zone campaign,” where the country’s fishing waters will be declared as free from the execution of the bilateral trade pact currently waiting the concurrence of the Senate.

BY GERRY ALBERT CORPUZ
Contributed to Bulatlat
Vol. VIII, No. 26, August 3-9, 2008

The anti-JPEPA (Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement) fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) is set to lead an across-the-country “JPEPA-free zone campaign,” where the country’s fishing waters will be declared as free from the execution of the bilateral trade pact currently waiting the concurrence of the Senate.

“The idea is to declare all the country’s archipelagic waters and major fishing grounds as JPEPA-free zone areas,” Pamalakaya national chair Fernando Hicap.

“Once a fishing ground is declared a JPEPA-free zone area, Japanese factory ships hunting Philippine tunas and other precious marine resources shall be exposed, opposed and if possible barred from entering the country’s territorial waters,” the Pamalakaya leader said.

However, Hicap admitted that since fishing boats in the Philippines are either low tech or second hand vessels, fisherfolk and fish workers cannot apprehend Japanese factory ships in high seas, but once these Japanese factory ships dock for refueling, that would be the time they could launch protest actions.

Hicap said the JPEPA-free zone campaign will be one of the forms of protest actions which the broad anti-JPEPA alliance No Deal! JPEPA will undertake to heighten the people’s resistance against the one-sided bilateral economic agreement.

On Aug. 4 Pamalakaya activists will install “larger-than-life” protest billboards in Manila Bay near the Philippine Senate to declare the bay as a JPEPA-free zone area. The militants will invite opposition Sen. Jamby Madrigal to post another billboard declaring the Senate as a JPEPA-free zone area.

Pamalakaya said that the major fishing grounds that would be declared as JPEPA-free zone areas include Babuyan Channel, Lingayen Gulf, Manila Bay, Ragay Gulf, Albay Gulf, Kalayaan Group of Islands in Palawan, Sibuyan Sea, Tablas Strait, Guimaras Strait, Panay Gulf, Cebu-Bohol Strait, Samar Sea, Leyte Gulf, Camotes Sea, Bohol Sea, Tañon Strait, Moro Gulf, Daca Gulf, Sulu Sea and Lagonoy Gulf

So far, it is only Madrigal who has stated her position against the JPEPA, and Pamalakaya said it is only appropriate for the opposition senator to lead the ground breaking anti-JPEPA rites in the Senate. The anti-JPEPA bloc only needs eight senators to block the treaty.

Mass flooding of Japanese used ships

Pamalakaya warned that the ratification of the bilateral trade agreement will lead to the mass flooding of Jurassic Japanese ships similar to M/V Princess of the Stars that sank last month at the height of typhoon Frank.

The militant group said that JPEPA will provide the widest latitude of business opportunity for Japanese manufacturing ships to dump more of their second hand ships in the Philippines and still rake windfall profits and huge returns on investments.

“Owners of Sulpicio Lines admitted that the MV Princess of the Stars was acquired as a second hand passenger and cargo ship for $5 million,” Pamalakaya said.

According to Pamalakaya, this practice has been going on since time immemorial and past administrations including the present government of Mrs. Arroyo failed to address this very disturbing issue, the proliferation of second hand and unworthy Japanese vessels sold to local Filipino businessmen.”

“The Philippine has been accommodating Japan’s passenger, cargo and commercial fishing vessels since the Marcos dictatorship under the Treaty of Amity, Commerce and Navigation, even if the seaworthiness and the performance background of these vessels are highly questionable. The ratification of JPEPA will further worsen this nearly half-a century problem,” the group said.

Pamalakaya recalled that M/V Solar 1 which sank on Aug. 11, 2006 off Guimaras, spilling 21 liters of bunker fuel that was chartered by Petron Philippines from Sunshine Maritime Development Corporation was acquired from Japan.

The group suggested to House representatives and senators to review the records of 45 sea mishaps involving vessels owned by Sulpicio over the last 28 years and where these ships came from including M/V Doña Paz, M/V Doña Marilyn and M/V Princess of the Orient that sank in 1987, 1988 and 1998, respectively.

“Were these ships bought from Japan as second-hand ships? One thing is for sure, JPEPA if ratified will give Japan the full license to dump their old ships under the mantle of bilateral trade pact,” Pamalakaya said.

The militant group recalled that six years ago at the Tuna Congress held in General Santos City on Sept. 9, 2002, Japan announced that it is selling its commercial fishing vessels to the Philippine government to help the country increase its commercial tuna production beginning 2003.

Pamalakaya said there are 10,860 commercial fishing vessels operating in the Philippines in 2002, of which 4,444 commercial fishing vessels weighing 9 gross tons to 1,000 gross tons were probably imported from Japan and other foreign sources as second hand commercial fishing vessels.

The militant group said leading ocean and coastal commercial fishing corporations like Mar Fishing Corp., RBL Fishing Corp., Frabelle Fishing Corp., Irma Fishing Corp., San Andres Fishing, Unity and Development Fishing, Belen and Sons Commodities, Zamboanga Universal Fishing, RD Tuna Ventures and RD Fishing Industries can shed light on where they import their second hand commercial fishing vessels from.

Pamalakaya previously argued that JPEPA will allow Japanese factory ships to exploit the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) for its vast tuna reserves. The group asserted that aside from tuna, under JPEPA, Japanese transnational fishing companies will also gobble up other marine resources that are reserved for Filipino consumption.

It had said that a 3,000 ton single factory ship could catch not less than 50,000 metric tons of tuna that is equivalent to $ 242.4 million in total gross earnings per year. “The gains the Philippine government would derive like in the form of taxes and profit- sharing would be minimal compared to what Japan will get from JPEPA as far as the fishing aspect of the agreement is concerned,” Pamalakaya added.

The group said the fishing aspect of JPEPA is meant for the benefit and survival of Japan’s commercial fishing to the detriment of Filipino tuna producers.

With the increase in the supply of tuna produced by Japanese factory ships and their shipment to Japan and other countries, the local tuna producers and small tuna fishermen would be at their mercy by way of depressed prices, or worse, when tuna stocks in Philippine EEZ are depleted, it could lead to supply constraints and closure of local tuna processing plants, the murder of the P18-billion ($407,009,609) local tuna industry and the massacre of jobs and source of livelihood of some 180,000 tuna fishermen and fish workers.

Economic slavery

No Deal! JPEPA spokesperson Arnold Padilla last week informed Pamalakaya and other members of the anti-JPEPA coalition that Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago would push for the ratification of the JPEPA this week, adding that patriots, activists and nationalists should further intensify pressure to convince senators to vote against JPEPA.

“On Monday (Aug. 3 – Ed.), leaders of anti-JPEPA movement will make their presence felt in the Senate so that the senators would know that we are watching the outcome of this latest attempt of Japan to re-colonize the Philippines through economic slavery,” Padilla said in a text message sent to Bulatlat.

The No Deal! JPEPA spokesman said a number of activities have been lined up this week and in the coming weeks, but he did not elaborate what these are and when these activities will be staged.

Santiago, chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations told reporters covering the Senate beat last week that she will endorse JPEPA for concurrence by the plenary, even if Japanese Ambassador Makoto Katsura had “refused to accede” to her request for a detailed side agreement.

Santiago said that instead of a detailed side agreement, the Japanese Ambassador to Manila prefers to include a general provision in the treaty that would state that the RP-Japan bilateral agreement would conform with the 1987 Constitution.

The NO DEAL! said Katsura’s “general statement” is even worse because it practically takes away any concrete obligation on Japan to respect specific provisions of the charter.

Padilla said, “Even if Japan issues a “general” commitment to abide by the 1987 Constitution as proposed by Katsura, the unconstitutional terms in the JPEPA remain and Japan has the right under international laws to question the Philippines’ non-compliance in the treaty even if it is based on constitutional grounds.”

The group said that this latest development in the JPEPA negotiations further proves that the treaty is indefensible and that senators must issue a categorical rejection of the JPEPA to protect the national and the Filipino people’s interest. Contributed to Bulatlat