A fishers’ group has backed a House proposal to investigate Chinese-led dredging operations approved during the administration of former president Rodrigo Duterte.
The Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) issued the statement on Friday after former Surigao del Norte Representative Robert Ace Barbers urged the revived “quad committee” of the 20th Congress to include in its probe dredging projects allegedly linked to Beijing’s reclamation activities in the West Philippine Sea.
“I think the quad comm 2.0 should investigate that issue because it should not be set aside or disregarded. Concerns over Chinese aggression in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) are important,” Barbers said.
The senator said China was able to construct installations in the area using materials taken from Philippine territory, stressing that ownership remains with the country and calling for a thorough investigation involving various government agencies.
In a statement, Pamalakaya national chairperson and former Anakpawis Party-list Representative Fernando Hicap said the group “is very willing to cooperate” in the investigation and would provide case studies on the “socio-economic and environmental” costs of dredging to coastal communities.
“For a long time, fisherfolk have been calling for a stop to large-scale dredging operations in fishing grounds. Aside from halting these activities, companies and senior government officials who approved these destructive operations must also be held accountable,” Hicap said.
Pamalakaya cited the Duterte administration’s dredging project in Aparri, Cagayan, which was carried out with a Chinese construction firm under the guise of flood mitigation and river restoration.
The group said the project instead “harmed” the local fishing industry, causing “irrevocable” damage to the marine ecosystem and fishery resources.
“Although the dredging ended in 2023, the fisherfolk of Aparri and nearby towns continue to suffer from the damage it left behind. The former average income of ₱7,000 (about $122) per fishing trip plunged to ₱900 (around $16) at the height of the dredging, and now stands at ₱3,000 to ₱4,000 (approximately $52 to $70) per trip,” Hicap said.
An investigative report commissioned by Caritas Philippines in 2021 documented accounts of fishermen in Aparri whose nets were destroyed by dredging vessels with Chinese crews, and who said they received no clear compensation months after lodging complaints.
The report found that large ships were operating in both the Cagayan River and the Babuyan Channel, extracting black sand and allegedly dumping waste materials back into fishing grounds.
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Fr. Manuel Catral, former parish priest of the Catholic Church in Aparri, described the project as a “fraud” that threatened the aramang (spider shrimp) fishery, saying, “We are against the way dredging is being implemented. It is irresponsible.”
“We are against the deception and the lies that will hasten the dredging operation,” he said. The priest warned that “dredging disturbs the habitat of the aramang, which is the primary source of livelihood of the people,” affecting some 11,000 fisherfolk in the town.
Pamalakaya said the Aparri dredging project extracted magnetite or black sand — a valuable mineral allegedly exported by Chinese dredgers “under the radar.”
The group is now working with Makabayan bloc lawmakers to refile House Resolution No. 2278, which seeks to investigate the adverse impacts of Duterte-approved dredging activities on livelihoods and marine environments.
“It is high time to totally stop the ongoing dredging across the country, including in Cagayan, Zambales, Bataan, and various parts of Manila Bay. Aside from the damage it has caused to livelihoods, it is also seen as the reason for stronger waves and the erosion of sand on the shorelines during typhoons.
Aside from halting these operations, fishermen and coastal residents whose livelihoods continue to decline and whose homes are being destroyed because of dredging must be given compensation,” Hicap said.
The quad committee — composed of the House committees on dangerous drugs, public order and safety, public accounts, and human rights — was revived this year to continue unfinished investigations from the previous Congress, including illegal activities linked to offshore gaming, the illicit drug trade, and alleged rights violations in the previous administration’s war on drugs.
