‘Full Supreme Court should rule on municipal waters boundary’

MANILA, Philippines — The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) wants the full Supreme Court to rule on its petition seeking to overturn the decision of the SC’s first division declaring the 15-kilometer municipal water boundary unconstitutional.

This is the first time that this detail was publicized two months after BFAR, through the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG), formally contested the decision of the SC first division.

In January, the BFAR through the OSG filed a motion for reconsideration to overturn the ruling issued by the first division, which upheld the Malabon Regional Trial Court’s decision on the petition of Mercidar Fishing Corp. to declare as unconstitutional the preferential access of municipal fisherfolk to municipal waters.

“The BFAR, through the OSG, requested the (SC’s) first division to refer the petition to the honorable court en banc for deliberation,” BFAR Assistant Secretary Zaldy Perez told various civil society groups and non-government organizations at a forum.

Perez, however, did not discuss further details related to the ongoing case, citing the sub judice rule.

Nonetheless, the BFAR official emphasized that the SC’s first division ruling is not yet final pending the resolution of the government’s motion for reconsideration.

Perez pointed out that the municipal waters “belong to the people who have nurtured them for generations” and to the people “whose commitment to safeguard our seas is unquestionable.”

“BFAR affirms its stand in prioritizing the welfare of small-scale fishers in ensuring that municipal waters remain a sanctuary for sustainable livelihood,” Perez said.

“Our agency stands with those who seek to secure a future where municipal fishers thrive as an economic driver and as a foundation for food security and ecological balance,” he added.

International marine protection group Oceana earlier flagged what it described as legal lapses, both substantive and procedural, in the ruling of the High Court’s first division. One of these is that the division ruled on an issue involving constitutionality, which is within the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court’s full bench.

Oceana noted that under Section 4, Article 8 of the 1987 Constitution, all cases involving the constitutionality of a law shall be heard by all justices of the Supreme Court sitting en banc.

Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr., whose family is engaged in commercial fishing, lamented that the ruling of the SC’s first division would have adverse effects on the livelihood of small fishers even as the country’s scarce marine resources face further depletion.

Industry groups estimate that the area reserved for the artisanal fishers would shrink to just two percent, with the majority of the country’s waters being opened to commercial fishers once the SC’s ruling becomes final and executory.

Even without the SC ruling in place, small fishers continue to face worsening threats due to the increasing number of commercial fishing vessels illegally operating in the municipal waters.

Based on Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite data, Oceana noted that the number of commercial fishers in municipal waters last year rose by 15 percent to 31,843 from the 27,654 recorded in 2023.

The areas considered as hotspots of illegal commercial fishing activities are Zamboanga City; Cuyo, Palawan; San Pascual, Masbate; Tongkil, Sulu; Languyan, Tawi-Tawi; Pagbilao, Quezon, and Carles, Iloilo, Oceana said.

“(Illegal commercial fishing activity) remains one of the significant threats to efforts to recover our fisheries resources from overfishing, habitat destruction, marine pollution and coastal projects,” the group said.

Citing Karagatan Patrol, Oceana said 860 commercial vessel lights were detected within municipal waters from March 2 to 8. The detections were 19 percent higher than the 723 recorded from Feb. 23 to March 1.