Gerry Albert Corpuz presents

This is Gerry Albert Corpuz and this is my life and political journey to the world of class struggle and class emancipation

Pamalakaya wants Secretary Arthur Yap held accountable for signing 36 agreements
Senate asked to probe RP-China fisheries accord, 35 other deals

Leftwing militants belonging to Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) on Wednesday urged senators to cross party lines and conduct a parallel investigation on the RP-China fisheries accord, and 35 other agriculture and fisheries agreements signed by top agriculture officials in behalf of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

“Malacañang and the Department of Agriculture merely put the RP-China fisheries accord and 35 other deals on hold to pacify the outraged Filipino farmers and fisherfolk and other patriotic sectors of the society. This strategy of Malacañang should not prevent the Senate from probing these 36 rural agreements which are 1,000 times explosive than the ZTE scam and the RP-Spratly offshore mining deal,’ Pamalakaya said in a press statement.

The militant group has recently filed diplomatic protests against the RP-China fisheries accord and the Joint Marine Seismic Understanding (JMSU) before the Chinese Consular Office in Makati.

The House of Representatives yesterday conducted a hearing on the controversial RP-China fisheries, and was told that the accord will allow Chinese fishermen to fish even in municipal waters which are currently reserved for 1.8 million small fishermen and their 8 million dependents.

The congressmen in yesterday’s hearing of the House Committee on Agriculture chaired by Palawan Rep. Abraham Mitra were told that the fisheries agreement and 35 other deals in agriculture and fisheries were suspended while consultations are being held with the affected sectors.

Mitra said he is supporting the position of Malacañang to suspend the agreements in view of food crisis. But Pamalakaya said the outright scrapping of these agreements is the best political solution and not just its suspension.

“We appeal to the Senate presidency of Senator Manuel Villar to immediately calendar the investigation of RP-China fisheries agreement and 35 other deals in agriculture and fisheries Malacañang had signed with Beijing government. The 36 agreements are 100 times bigger and scandalous compared to the $ 329 million National Broadband Network deal,” Pamalakaya national chair Fernando Hicap said in a press statement.

“Secretary Arthur Yap said the Philippine-China fisheries accord was only suspended, along with other 35 one-sided agricultural and fisheries deal courtesy of the controversies created by the ZTE scandal. Therefore, Malacañang is just waiting for an opportune time to let go these agreements. It is still an all systems go for President Arroyo as far as the China deals are concerned,” Hicap added.

The Pamalakaya leader said they want the RP-China fisheries and other agreements scrapped because these will allow Chinese fishing corporations to engage in commercial and aquaculture production all over the country, as well as the corporate takeover of 1.2 million hectares of prime agricultural lands for hybrid rice and corn production, 40,000 hectares for sugar cane and cassava for bio fuels and 5,000 hectares for tropical fruits.

Hicap since the RP-China fisheries accord is so abroad. He said it would allow China’s top fishing and aquaculture corporations to explore the country’s 266,000 square kilometer coastal areas and 1,934,000 square kilometer oceanic waters to the detriment of Filipino fishermen in fish capture sector.

Pamalakaya’s Hicap also said, China, a known as “fishing giant” in aquaculture sector will be entitled to utilize whatever is left in the country’s inland resources.

Hicap said China’s top aquaculture corporations could conduct fishpond and aquaculture production in freshwater swamplands (106,328 hectares), brackish water swamplands (139,735 hectares), and existing fishponds (253,854 hectares) and in lakes (200,000 hectares), rivers (31,000 hectares) and reservoirs (19,000 hectares). #

posted by: GerryCorpuz at 02:34 | link | comments |

Template by motime.com  |  header image credit: Markus Gann © www.begann.de