Reacting to the recent ruling by the Supreme Court allowing commercial fishers unrestricted access to municipal fishing grounds,
Bicol Saro Rep. Brin Yamsuan is now discussing with the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources a possible law to protect the welfare of fishermen.
Yamsuan, who chairs the House Committee on Aquaculture and Fisheries Resources, called the meeting with BFAR in reponse to appeals from fishermen organizations, local governments and civil society groups to the Supreme Court’s First Division’s ruling that granted commercial fishing companies unrestricted access to municipal waters.
The Fisheries Code reserves the 15-kilometer municipal water zone exclusively for small-scale fishermen.
However, the SC’s First Division upheld a 2023 decision of the Regional Trial Court in Malabon which invalidated provisions of the Fisheries Code ensuring preferential access for small fisherfolk. This ruling allows Mercidar Fishing Corporation, a commercial entity, to operate within these zones.
More groups like the Philippine-Misereor Partnership Inc. (PMPI) has added its voice to protecting the 15-kilometer municipal fishing ground against commercial fishing.
A social development and advocacy network of 230 members from faith-based groups, nongovernment organizations, and people’s organizations, PMPI issued a statement expressing its concern on the SC ruling.
Various nongovernment organizations and fishermen’s groups led by international ocean conservation advocacy NGO Oceana and the Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) slammed the SC for the controversial ruling, which allows large-scale commercial fishers to operate within municipal waters, threatening the livelihoods of small-scale fishers who depend on these waters for their daily sustenance.
“We are alarmed and greatly disappointed that this ruling on Section 16 undermines the devolved powers of local governments under the Local Government Code of 1991. By asserting that only the national government has the authority to regulate the use of natural resources, including municipal waters, the court has stripped local governments of a critical function designed to empower local governance and community-based resource management,” the PMPI said.