PNoy eyes subsistence to keep fishermen from sailing during cyclones

President Benigno Aquino III directed disaster management authorities Sunday to study a “subsistence" mechanism for marginal fishermen so they would not ignore warnings against going out to sea when cyclones threaten their hometowns. Aquino, who attended a meeting of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, said many fishermen may have ignored warnings because they need to catch fish just to ensure they have something to eat for the day. “Study with the marginal fisherfolk [that] if they will not be allowed to venture out, can we give them some subsistence? Can you study a mechanism whereby you can determine who is in need, there are funds available for that purpose... Kapit sa patalim ito (Some of them may be living hand-to-mouth)," he said. NDRRMC Executive Director Benito Ramos also suggested that the fishermen look for other sources of income to augment their fishing. He, however, noted that while many fishermen have no other source of income, others ignore warnings simply out of hardheadedness. “Their families have to eat. Ang suggestion ko they should look for other sources of income [but the] others, simply pasaway (My suggestion was that they look for other sources of income. But other fishermen are just plain hardheaded)," he said. In pushing for a mechanism for marginal fisherfolk, Aquino said fishermen who go missing risk not only their lives but also those of rescue teams searching for them. “The people who are missing have to be searched for. Those searching will be put at unnecessary risk," the President said. — KBK, GMA News