The Federation of Free Farmers (FFF), the MAGSASAKA Party-List (MPL) and small fisherfolk organizations expressed concern over a recent Supreme Court First Division ruling allowing commercial fishers to operate within municipal waters, which are traditionally reserved for the exclusive use of the country’s two million small-scale fishers.
FFF board chairman and MPL first nominee, Leonardo Montemayor, said the ruling invalidated a key provision of the Philippine Fisheries Code of 1998 and urged Congress to address the issue through legislative action.
“A new bill must be filed and passed in the 20th Congress to correct this grave injustice and economic injury to our artisanal fisherfolk,” said Montemayor, who served as Agriculture secretary from 2001 to 2002.
As a former peasant sector representative in the 10th Congress, Montemayor co-authored the original Fisheries Code or Republic Act 8550 and its subsequent amendment RA 10654 in 2015.
The groups also criticized the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) and the Department of Agriculture (DA) for failing to file an appeal within the prescribed period.
