“Maganda yung ani ng ating mga magsasaka sa Davao sa CARAFA - subalit nagsabi yung ating mga
magsasaka na umabot lang ng siete hanggang sampung piso ang presyo ng palay dahil walang
pumapasok at bumibili ng palay sa ating mga magsasaka dahil sa epekto ng lockdown at epekto nung
pagdagsa, pagbaha ng imported na bigas na dala ng Rice Liberalization law. “ (Farmers of CARAFA in
Davao had good harvests but our farmers shared that the price of unmilled rice fell as low as PhP7-10.00
and there were no buyers because of the lock down. The influx of imported rice also affected farmers’
income).
With the continuing pandemic, women fisherfolks continue to bear the impact of the crisis. In
2020, the Commission conducted FGDs with women fisherfolks. This provided an insight into the situation
of the sector during the pandemic. According to the FGDs, the pandemic heavily impacted the sector as it
is already among the poorest of the basic sectors. The women shared accounts of food insecurity, loss of
income, multiple burden, and heightened anxiety. Women fisherfolks also shared how the lockdown
resulted to loss or limited income and to difficulties in accessing markets for their catch. One woman from
Cebu shared ‘As a senior citizen fish vendor, I experienced financial difficulty, it doubled my worries in
terms of money in this time of pandemic. I cannot easily sell my product to the market. Most of our previous
customers do not have money as well.’55 This is echoed by women fisherfolks in region 3 where they
complained that their income was affected by the strict community quarantine. They were not allowed
to fish and sell and they were unable to eat regularly.
Women’s registration and non-registration as fisherfolks under the Bureau of Fisheries also affected their
access to available relief and government programs. Women shared that as some of them were not
registered as fisherfolks or not members of any fisherfolk organization, they were unable to access
government support. In some instances, there were confusion on what programs they can access and
what are accessible only through their husbands who were often the ones registered as fisherfolks.
While very few women shared accounts of gender-based violence that happened during the pandemic,
many shared that different forms of violence - including intimate partner violence, trafficking, and rape
happened in their communities pre-pandemic. Some continued during the pandemic. Women’s accounts
of GBV reveal that they are not only rooted on gender inequality and male dominance and control but
also from poverty and food insecurity. One woman in Cebu shared ‘One time when my husband went
home from fishing, he asked me for food. We did not have a good dinner because we had no money. I
showed him the bowl of vegetable soup and he asked me to heat it. When it was done, he poured the
boiling soup on my face. It was painful and I got burns.,’ in another instance, a woman shared that there
were women in her community who had to sell their bodies in order to buy food. Still, in another account,
a husband was reported of having beaten his wife, because he had no money, no income, and nothing to
feed his children. All these anecdotes and sharing from women affirm the continuing threat of GBV against
women, pre and during the pandemic. Accounts of some women fisherfolks even link these bouts of
violence to the prevailing anxiety and food and income insecurity.
55
Woman fisherfolk from Talisay, Cebu
16
Select target paragraph3
Connect to a paragraph
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Add to table of contents