
By JONAH KAYGUAN
Bulatlat.com
MANILA – Fisheries groups are opposing the recent Supreme Court ruling allowing commercial fishing vessels to operate within 15 kilometers of municipal waters.
In a December 18, 2024 ruling, the Supreme Court’s First Division affirmed the decision of a Malabon Regional Trial Court allowing commercial fishing operations within the jurisdiction of coastal local government units (LGUs).
Petitioners marched to the Supreme Court on January 11, Friday to file a motion to intervene in the Supreme Court ruling. “For so long, municipal fishers have cared for the 15-kilometer municipal waters, only for large commercial [fishers] to recklessly enter and deplete them. And now, they will allow just everyone in.” laments Justino “Ka Tino” Dacillo, one of the petitioners and current chairman of the Integrated Fisheries and Aquatic Resource Management Council (IFARMC) of Lamon Bay.
Dacillo is joined by co-petitioners Robert “Ka Dodoy” Ballion, Jessie Delos Reyes, and Erlinda Ferrer. They are supported by fisherfolk from the Katipunan mga Kilusan ng Artisanong Mangingisda sa Pilipinas (KKAMPi), an umbrella network of small-scale fishers, and NGOs for Fisheries Reform (NFR), a coalition of organizations advocating for sustainable, people-first policies.
The motion to intervene aims to reverse the RTC ruling, which petitioners argue goes against the legal protections afforded by the Fisheries Code. RA 8550 as amended by RA 10654 was originally legislated to give small-scale fishers preferential rights to fish within the 15-kilometer zone. The Fisheries Code assigns LGUs to conduct monitoring and enforcement over their waters and prioritize their municipal fishers; the RTC ruling effectively halts the authority of LGUs to enforce this law and opens a legal pathway for commercial fishing operations to be conducted.
Protesters insist on the right of municipal fishers to intervene in the ruling, citing the ruling’s wide-ranging impact on livelihoods and communities. “The remedy is to file a motion to intervene,” said Mario E. Maderazo, volunteer lawyer to the petitioners. “Municipal fishers—those with boats of 3 gross tons or less—are the only ones legally allowed [to fish] within the 15-kilometer municipal waters. If the petition by Mercidar prevails, it will allow them to enter these waters. This goes against the true intent of the Fisheries Code, which is both an environmental and social legislation.”
Maderazo was referrring to the petition filed by Mercidar Fishing Corporation (MFC) of Navotas City in October 2023, asking the Malabon court to declare sections 15 and 18 of Republic Act 8550 as amended by RA 10654, unconstitutional. Following this, the office of the Department of Agriculture – Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (DA-BFAR), through the Office of the Solicitor General, filed a Motion for Reconsideration with the Supreme Court, which was struck down.
Environmental impacts
In line with the spirit of the Fisheries Code, the prohibition of commercial fishing activities on municipal waters serves to protect already vulnerable ecosystems from further extractive practices, as well as regulate the use of commercial fishing gear. This protection extends towards the fishers’ preferential rights, allowing them to fish without worry of uneven competition from larger vessels.
“Fishers are already declared the poorest of the poor among all sectors of our society. This will drive them deeper into poverty and hunger,” saidi Pablo “Ka Pabs” Rosales, president of Pagkakaisa ng Samahan ng Mangingisda sa Pilipinas (PANGISDA-Pilipinas), who took part in Friday’s march.

Commercial fishing gears are shown to be effective in waters over 50 fathoms deep, providing them an advantage against the traditional gears employed by small-scale fishers, which are better suited to shallower depths. The ruling will allow commercial fishing vessels to fish within depths of seven fathoms upwards.
Meanwhile, commercial fishing vessels can catch at a rate of 3,055 kilograms per hour, a stark contrast to hook-and-line fishers that only catch 0.49 kilograms per hour. The rate at which a commercial fishing vessel operates allows them to catch, in a single day, the equivalent of that of 1,500 small-scale fishers. This presents a clear threat of exacerbating the rapidly declining fish stocks found within municipal waters, potentially depriving coastal communities of their primary source of livelihood and permanently damaging marine biodiversity.
Only 15 percent of all Philippine waters fall under municipal jurisdiction. If the RTC ruling is allowed to stand, commercial fishing operations will be allowed in 98 percent of all Philippine waters, a move that will effectively relegate the activities of over a million artisanal fishers to only the remaining two percent.
Fisheries advocates now point to the possible long-term impacts of the ruling on marine conservation. Executive Director of NGOs for Fisheries Reform (NFR) Marita Rodriguez warned of possible repercussions on the country’s environmental commitments, particularly its impact on the coastal communities and the ecosystem.
“This ruling will affect local laws meant to protect vital near-shore ecosystems, as well as international laws,” said Rodriguez. “Large commercial are highly efficient and destructive. This will affect our corals, which are so few, and [worsen] by-catch,” she continued.
Rodriguez points out already existing legal pathways that allow commercial fishing on municipal waters, requiring companies to conduct consultations with Municipal Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Councils (MFARMc) and comply with LGU requirements. Such measures serve to properly audit prospective fishing corporations and strengthen the regulations meant to protect fisherfolk.
Fishers on the brink
As an archipelagic country, fishing has long been a major source of sustenance for many in the Philippines. The recent court ruling threatens the primary source of income for the inhabitants of over 900 coastal LGUs. Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority shows a worrying upward trend in the incidence of poverty among fisherfolks as the sector continues to top the list, followed closely by farmers.
Additional pressures put on Philippine fishers endanger further marginalization of the group, severely limiting their income, access to education, health, and ironically, food security. “They are killing our livelihoods, our future, and the next generation,” declared Robert “Ka Dodoy” Ballion, a 2021 Ramon Magsaysay awardee and fisheries advocate.
“This is our only livelihood, and now they want to take even that away,” stated Dacillo.
In a separate statement, fishers’ group Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) also lamented the ruling’s effects on the livelihood of fishers.

The group said that in Cavite alone, over 30,000 municipal and subsistence fisherfolk from nine coastal towns will lose their traditional fishing grounds to big-fishing vessels.
“We call on our fellow small fishermen to show in any way their opposition to the complete takeover of our traditional fishing grounds by big businesses,” the group said.
Pamalakaya Vice Chairperson Ronnel Arambulo said, “We must assert our exclusive rights to municipal waters, coupled with a review of existing fishery laws that do not benefit small-scale fishermen.”
Currently, the court ruling maintains a status quo, prohibiting MFC from operating in municipal waters until specific conditions are met. Despite this, fishers find little comfort, fearing the worst may still come. (With reports from Anne Marxe D. Umil) (RVO)