Bacolod Bishop Patricio Buzon issued a pastoral statement on Friday, May 30, opposing the decision of the Supreme Court’s First Division to uphold a Malabon Regional Trial Court ruling allowing commercial fishing within the 15-kilometer municipal fishing zone.
The bishop has called on the clergy in the Diocese of Bacolod to read his pastoral statement at all anticipated and Sunday Masses on May 31 and June 1, “so that the faithful may be properly informed and encouraged to stand in solidarity with our small-scale fisherfolk”.
“It is important that our people are made aware of the serious impact this decision may have on their means of survival and on our marine ecosystems, ” he said.
The bishop, in his pastoral statement, said the SC ruling strikes at the heart of marginalized coastal communities, especially in Negros Occidental, where more than 45,000 small-scale fishers across 25 coastal cities and municipalities depend on these waters for their livelihood.
These communities, organized into 472 fisherfolk associations across 187 barangays, face the threat of further economic hardship, Buzon said.
“As Christians, our Church’s Social Teachings remind us of the preferential option for the poor. This principle compels us to prioritize the needs of the vulnerable and ensure that the voices of the least among us are heard and defended,” Buzon said.
Buzon also said small-scale fisherfolk are not merely workers of the sea but they too play a vital role in food security and sustainable development, contributing over 90 percent of the world’s fish catch, and yet they are often excluded from decision-making processes that directly affect their survival.
“For these people, fishing is not simply a livelihood but their only means of survival. Thus, to endanger their access to the seas is to endanger their lives and future,” he said.
If left unchallenged, the SC decision would allow large commercial fishing vessels to encroach on the waters reserved for municipal fishers under Philippine law, Buzon warned.
“This would jeopardize local livelihoods and risk irreversible harm to marine ecosystems, violating both environmental sustainability and social justice,” he said.
He appealed to lawmakers, local government officials, and the judiciary to reexamine this policy and engage directly with the communities most affected.
Buzon also called on parishes and chaplaincies, especially along coastal areas, “to organize campaigns and conduct information drives so that our communities may understand the impact of these rulings on our fisherfolk and marine ecosystems”.*