25-year lease arrangement for idle coastal areas bucked

Fisherfolk organizations are pressing the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to scrap an administrative order (DAO) granting 25-year lease rights to private investors and corporations in developing idle and degraded coastal areas.

The fisherfolk groups under the umbrella organization of a fishery non-government association, Tambuyog Development Center (TDC), is being supported by the National Agriculture and Fisheries Council (NAFC), an attached agency of the Department of Agriculture.

In a recent meeting, TDC and the NAFC committee on fisheries and aquaculture issued a resolution calling for the revocation of DAO-24, citing fears raised by fishery groups that the DAO would only induce further destruction of the country’s coastal resources similar to what happened in the 1970s and 1980s when the government allowed conversion of mangrove forests into fishponds through foreshore lease agreements (FLAs).

TDC said the NAFC resolution should serve as a wake-up call for the DENR which is reviving the implementation of the controversial DAO after its suspension by DENR Secretary Angelo Reyes last March 17.

TDC representative Sonny Batungbacal noted that "of all agencies, DENR should know very well that reviving DAO 24 only fuels unrest among small fishers since it is no different from the FLAs that legitimized not only the massive deforestation of our mangroves but also the proliferation of destructive aquaculture systems, a predicament contributing to poverty in coastal areas."

"It’s a good thing that NAFC requested a consultation on DAO 24 since no democratic consultation had been done since the order was issued on Nov. 17, 2005, and it seems that DENR is really bent on reviving it. Based from their presentation, DENR is amending DAO 24’s coverage from coastal areas to just mangroves if only to facilitate its implementation," added Batungbacal.

Fisherfolks are opposing it contending that DAO 24 is not only redundant but at some point in conflict with existing laws and policies on coastal resources management such as the Fisheries Code, Local Government Code and the DENR’s own Community Based Forest Management (CBFM) program.