The Supreme Court has issued a decision that effectively decreased the coastal waters reserved for local small fishermen.
Iloilo Gov. Arthur Defensor Jr. and Provincial Administrator Raul Banias said the Iloilo provincial government convened the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Region 6, Provincial Bantay Dagat Task Force and fishermen to discuss the implications of the high court's ruling affirming the 2023 decision by the Malabon Regional Trial Court.
Banias disclosed that upon the instruction of Governor Defensor Jr., the provincial government of Iloilo will appeal the High Tribunal’s decision that allows commercial fishing vessels to operate within the 15-kilometer boundary of the municipal waters.
The Supreme Court, with its rigid adherence to the Rules of Court and legal technicalities, has just made the difficult struggle of the country’s subsistence fisherfolk even harder.
On Dec. 20, 2024, the Supreme Court's First Division upheld the Malabon Regional Trial Court’s 2023 decision declaring Sections 4 (58), 16, and 18 of the Philippine Fisheries Code or Republic Act No. 8550, as amended by RA 10654, unconstitutional.
The High Tribunal ruled on the RTC’s decision that effectively allowed Mercidar Fishing Corp. to operate within the 15-kilometer municipal waters, traditionally reserved for small-scale fishers.
While the bone of contention was just the fishing grounds of Manila Bay near Malabon, the ruling of the Supreme Court encompasses all municipal waters from Batanes to Tawi-Tawi.
The decision invalidated provisions restricting commercial fishing within the 15-kilometer municipal waters, allowing commercial fishing vessels to operate in waters seven fathoms or deeper, regardless of distance from shore.
The ruling also shifted primary regulatory authority of the natural resource from local government units to national government agencies.
It is just to support Iloilo’s social justice agenda in fighting for fishing rights of marginal fisherfolk.
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