
Rodriguez files bill granting small fishers exclusive right to fish in municipal waters
CAGAYAN de Oro City 2nd District Rep. Rufus Rodriguez on Monday filed a bill that seeks to grant small fishermen exclusive rights to fish in municipal waters, measured 15 kilometers from the shoreline of coastal local government units.
The bill would amend Section 17 of Republic Act No. 8550, or The Fisheries Code of 1998, the law providing for the development, management and conservation of the country’s fisheries and aquatic resources.
Section 17 is about the grant of fishing privileges in municipal waters by city and municipal councils pursuant to Section 149 of the Local Government Code.
It provides that “duly registered fisherfolk organizations/cooperatives shall have preference in the grant of fishery rights” by city/municipal councils.
The proposed Rodriguez amendment would replace “preference” with “exclusive rights.”
The Mindanao lawmaker said the proposed change would “give not only preference to duly registered fisherfolk organizations/cooperatives but instead exclusive rights to fish in municipal waters.”
In his explanatory note, Rodriguez said on Dec. 11, 2023, the Malabon City Regional Trial Court Branch 170 declared that Section 4 (58), Section 16 and Section 18 of the Fisheries Code are unconstitutional.
He said the court basically rules that “the Constitution does not allow Congress nor the executive agencies to limit the utilization of marine resources exclusively to subsistence fishermen, to the exclusion of large commercial fishing operators.”
“The RTC ruling allows big fishing companies to fish in municipal waters to the prejudice of small fisherfolk and subsistence fishermen,” he said.
He added that on Aug. 19, 2024, the Supreme Court denied a petition for review for being filed out of time.
Rodriguez pointed out that the high court also stated that “in any case, the allegations, issues and arguments adduced in the petition significantly fail to show that the RTC committed any reversible error in the challenged decision and order.”
“Not only is the social justice provision in the Constitution reserving municipal waters for our small-scale fishers abandoned, the ruling is discarding the constitutional principle of local autonomy for local governments, which we ensured under the much-lauded RA 7160, the Local Government Code of 1991, which devolved essential basic services to our local governments, including environmental protection and enforcement of fisheries laws,” he stressed.
Moreover, he said the Constitution, under Section 7 of Article XIII, “explicitly provides for the protection of the rights of subsistence fisherfolk to the preferential use of local marine and fishing resources, both inland and offshore.”
“By opening municipal waters to intense fishing pressure from commercial fishing, we have no way of reviving our fish stocks, and this can eventually lead to a collapse. In the ordinary sense, our fishing grounds are already in the ‘emergency room.’ By subjecting them to more large-scale industrial fishing without controls can send these to the ‘intensive care unit,’ and eventually, death,” he said.
“Municipal fishing zones are not just lines on a map – they are lifelines for millions of people who depend on these waters for sustenance and survival. These waters are sanctuary for artisanal, small-scale fishers who don’t have the means to compete with advanced technology and large-scale operations of fishing vessels. 2.3 million fisherfolk are affected, 51 percent of which engaged in capture fisheries,” he said.
He added that small fishers stand to lose their livelihood, driving them deeper into poverty and affecting their families and their communities.
“This ripple effect compromises food security, economic wellbeing and the social fabric of our nation,” Rodriguez emphasized.
He noted that the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines has strongly opposed the Supreme Court and RTC decision, saying it would be detrimental to small fishermen.
He quoted the bishops as saying: “If the courts’ decisions will become final and executory, our municipal fishers, who depend on these waters for survival, will face unfair and unjust competition from commercial fishers…When commercial fishing interests take precedence, the vulnerable are left to bear the cost – facing hunger, poverty and displacement.”