MALATE, Manila– According to the Listahanan of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), a total of 93,352 fisherfolks were identified in MIMAROPA region based on the 2015 household assessment.

From the figure, 49.8% or 46,523 fisherfolks aged 15 years old and above are poor.

May 31 is declared as the National Fisherfolks Day to give recognition to the rightful stewards and beneficiaries of our oceans and its natural resources as well as our lakes, gulfs, bays and other fishing areas.

Listahanan, a government mechanism to identify who and where the poor are, recorded Palawan province has the highest percentage of poor fisherfolks with 52.9% (29,998) followed by Occidental Mindoro with 51.7% (6,391); Romblon with 47.4% (4,006); Oriental Mindoro with 39.8% (3,723); and Marinduque with 36.9% (2,405).

Of the total identified poor fisherfolks, 95.8% (44,563) are male and 4.2% (1,960) are female.

In terms of educational attainment, 3.9% or 1,808 fisherfolks have no grade completed; 28.6% (13,310) of poor fisherfolks graduated from elementary; 12.3% (5,742) graduated from high school, and 0.2% (101) graduated from college.

Three Palawan towns have the most number of poor fisherfolks identified:  Balabac with 156, Taytay with 83 and Coron with 71.

As an intervention, DSWD has provided livelihood assistance to 23,987 fisherfolks regionwide under the Sustainable Livelihood Program amounting to P159 million since 2011.###