The Department of Agriculture (DA) is set to launch a new subsidy program for fishers, as persistently rising fuel prices threaten to cripple the local fishing industry. Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said the DA is mulling over allocating P10 to commercial and municipal fishers for every kilo of landed catch on government fish ports, as pump prices already cornered up to 80 percent of their production cost. ”Our fishing sector will really suffer, especially the commercial ones [operating in General Santos] because fuel used to account for 40 to 50 percent of their production cost, but it’s now at 70 to 80 percent,” Tiu Laurel said in a Senate hearing on Monday.

Pelonia, A., & Mayuga, J. L. (2026, April 14). DA pushes ₱10/kilo subsidy for fishers as fuel costs now eat 80% of production. BusinessMirror, p. A9.