Ronnel Arambulo, 48, a fisherfolk chief, declared his candidacy for senator within the 2025 midterm elections in Navotas Metropolis on Monday (Picture courtesy of Pamalakaya)
SAN ANTONIO, Zambales — Hoping to advance the pursuits of Filipino fishermen, a fisherfolk chief on Monday introduced his senatorial bid within the 2025 midterm polls.
Ronnel Arambulo, 48, is the fifth candidate to run beneath the Makabayan coalition. He’s from Laguna de Bay and is presently the vice chairperson of the fisherfolk group Pamalakaya.
In a telephone interview on Monday, Arambulo mentioned he welcomed the problem of the coalition to be a part of their senatorial slate as a result of for a very long time, not a single candidate within the nationwide elections represented the pursuits of Filipino fishermen, who’re among the many poorest within the nation.
Arambulo additionally mentioned the presence of Chinese language army forces within the West Philippine Sea and the harassment that they did to Filipino fishermen are additionally his inspirations for working for senator.
“As I lived for a while with the fishermen of Zambales, I personally witnessed and felt the hardships they endure not solely within the West Philippine Sea but in addition throughout the municipal fisheries,” he mentioned.
“Zambales fishermen obtained little and no important help from the federal government regardless of the numerous threats to their livelihood. It’s essential to systematically help their livelihood, and to create a coverage that may successfully acknowledge their unique fishing rights,” he added.
Arambulo has been a fisherfolk chief since 2008, main grassroots campaigns in protection of coastal communities and fishing grounds towards reclamation and all types of conversion and privatization.
He was additionally concerned in protest actions towards international aggression in Philippine waters, together with the Independence Day protest in Botolan, Zambales in 2023; a collective fishing expedition in Masinloc, Zambales to train fishing rights amid China’s unilateral fishing ban final Could; and the fluvial protest in Subic, Zambales to mark the eighth yr of the South China Sea arbitration ruling final July.
Fisherfolk leaders from Zambales and Manila Bay and environmental teams had been current at Arambulo’s declaration of his senatorial bid in Navotas Metropolis to personally endorse his candidacy.
The Makabayan coalition earlier introduced that they goal to subject a whole slate of 12 senatorial candidates representing the marginalized sectors.
Those that already introduced their senatorial bids had been ACT Academics party-list Rep. France Castro, Gabriela Ladies’s Occasion Rep. Arlene Brosas, Kilusang Mayo Uno’s Jerome Adonis, and former anti-poverty Czar Liza Maza.
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