The Negros Occidental Sangguniang Panlalawigan on Tuesday passed a resolution calling on national government agencies to take immediate action versus the recent Supreme Court ruling allowing commercial fishing in municipal waters.
The SP expressed grave concern over the SC decision’s removing local government authority over municipal waters and allowing unimpeded commercial fishing, said Board Member Adnrew Montelbano, SP Committee on Agriculture chairman, who moved for the passage of the resolution.
The resolution calls for urgent action to safeguard the rights of municipal fishers and protect fisheries and marine resources.
The Supreme Court, in its recent ruling, has removed the preferential rights of municipal fisherfolk and allowed commercial fishing within the 15-kilometer municipal waters, disregarding long-standing legal protections under the Fisheries Code and the Local Government Code, the SP resolution said.
The decision threatens the livelihoods of over two million small fisherfolk in the country, including those in Negros Occidental, who rely on municipal waters for their daily sustenance and economic survival, it said.
Unregulated commercial fishing in municipal waters will deplete fish stocks, degrade marine ecosystems, and undermine local conservation efforts that have been successfully implemented by LGUs and fisherfolk organizations, the resolution said.
The ruling also undermines the constitutional mandate for local governments to exercise jurisdiction over their resources and ensure the welfare of their constituents, it said.
It is imperative for the Province of Negros. Occidental to take a strong stand in support of its municipal fisherfolk and advocate for the protection of fisheries resources for future generations, the resolution said.
The SP said the SC ruling will have an adverse impact on small fisherfolk and marine resources’ sustainability.
The SP reaffirmed its commitment to the protection of more than 45,000 marginalized municipal fisherfolk with 472 fisherfolk associations in the 25 coastal cities and municipalities covering 187 barangays of Negros Occidental.
It also stressed the need for the conservation of marine resources through the continued enforcement of local fisheries laws, the establishment of additional marine protected areas or local conservation areas, and active participation in legal and policy actions to safeguard coastal communities.
The SP called on all coastal LGUs in Negros Occidental and Inter-LGU Alliances to adopt similar resolutions asserting their authority over municipal waters and protecting small fisherfolk from the threats posed by large-scale commercial fishing operations.
Copies of the resolution will be furnished to the Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (DA-BFAR), the League of Provinces of the Philippines, Coastal LGUs of Negros Occidental, and other concerned agencies for their information and appropriate action.
The local government units hope that their positions will be heard by the SC, but it will be up to the national government to represent the fisherfolk before the SC in the case against commercial fishing, Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said.
“We will just make it known that we are behind the small fisherfolk, and we will see what we can be done to get back the old law” that set a 15-kilometer municipal water demarcation, he said.
The old law prioritized municipal fisherfolk and regulated commercial fishing operations within those waters, Lacson said.
Lacson said the local government units will not file the appeal before the SC themselves, but will urge “the BFAR, Department of Agriculture and Department of Justice to really represent the small fisherfolk”.*