Militant fishers’ group PAMALAKAYA on Monday threw its full support behind a new House measure that seeks to ban commercial fishing within municipal waters – a direct response to a controversial Supreme Court ruling that struck down the preferential rights of small fishers as unconstitutional.
The group joined members of the Makabayan bloc in filing House Bill No. 5606, or the ‘Atin ang Kinse Kilometro Bill,’ which aims to restore and reinforce the exclusive fishing rights of municipal and subsistence fisherfolk within the 15-kilometer coastal zone.
‘Tugon ito sa kautusan ng Korte na tuluyang ibuyangyang ang municipal waters sa mga commercial fishing vessels,’ said PAMALAKAYA National Chairperson Fernando Hicap. ‘Pinagtitibay nito ang karapatan ng maliliit na mangingisda sa municipal waters, na pilit gustong agawin ng mga malalaking negosyo sa pangisdaan.’
(This is a response to the Court’s order to fully open municipal waters to commercial fishing vessels. It reaffirms the rights of small-scale fishers to municipal waters – rights that big fishing businesses are aggressively trying to take away.)
The measure directly challenges the legal and political consequences of the Supreme Court’s ruling earlier this year, which invalidated long-standing protections for municipal fishers, triggering widespread fear of intensified commercial intrusion into already dwindling coastal resources. Under HB 5606, large-scale commercial fishing using passive or active gear – including operations for profit or trade – would be explicitly prohibited within municipal waters and bays. These areas have long served as traditional fishing grounds for coastal communities dependent on small-scale, artisanal fishing.
‘Napapanahon nang magkaroon ng panukalang batas na nagsusulong ng ganap na proteksyon ng munisipal na pangisdaan mula sa mga commercial fishing na kundiman mapanira, ay may malakihan at walang regulasyong operasyon,’ said Hicap.
(It’s high time to have a proposed law that genuinely pushes for the full protection of municipal fisheries from commercial fishing operations that, if not outright destructive, are large-scale and unregulated.)
Crisis in the shallows
The proposed law also invokes the 1987 Constitution, citing Article XIII Section 7, which guarantees the protection of subsistence fishers’ rights to communal marine and fishing resources – both inland and offshore. PAMALAKAYA argued that the Supreme Court’s ruling effectively undermined this constitutional mandate.
‘Hindi pa man ganap ang implementasyon ng kautusan ng Korte, laganap na ang malakihang operasyon ng commercial fishing sa aming mga pangisdaan,’ Hicap warned. ‘Nagiging sanhi ito ng lalong pagkalugi ng mga maliliit na mangingisda at mabilisang pagkasaid ng isda at iba pang yamang-dagat.’
(Even before the Court’s order is fully implemented, large-scale commercial fishing operations are already widespread in our fishing grounds. This is causing greater losses for small-scale fishers and the rapid depletion of fish and other marine resources.)
This echoes growing concerns from scientists, legal advocates, and community leaders, who earlier warned that the high court’s ruling could further devastate fish stocks, deepen poverty in coastal areas, and exacerbate conflicts between small-scale and industrial fishing operators.
‘Atin ang kinse kilometro’
The title of the bill, ‘Atin ang Kinse Kilometro,’ underscores the decades-old policy recognizing the 15-kilometer municipal water boundary as a critical lifeline for small-scale fishers – a principle enshrined in the Fisheries Code and long upheld by both science and social justice advocates.
‘Kaakibat ng pagsusumite ng panukalang batas ay ang tuloy-tuloy naming pangangalampag sa Kongreso na dinggin ang panawagan ng mga mangingisda na magkaroon ng eksklusibong karapatan sa pook-pangisdaan,’ Hicap said.
(Alongside the filing of the proposed bill is our continued effort to press Congress to heed the call of fisherfolk for exclusive rights to municipal fishing grounds.)
PAMALAKAYA also vowed to lead a nationwide grassroots campaign to push the bill forward – through mobilizations, lobbying efforts, community discussions, and broader engagement with stakeholders and the public.
The group joins a growing movement of fisherfolk organizations, marine scientists, and environmental lawyers who have been sounding the alarm on what they call the creeping corporate takeover of municipal waters – a trend they say endangers not just livelihoods, but the future of the country’s already fragile coastal ecosystems.