It is common knowledge that the municipal fishermen who constitute 2.3 million of our population are considered the “poorest of the poor” sector. Thus, the news that the Supreme Court First Division had upheld the Malabon Trial Court’s decision, which allowed commercial fishing boats inside the 15-kilometer municipal fishing zone, elicited protests from the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), the Alyansa Agricultura (AA), and other nongovernment organizations that are aware of the impact it would have, not only on the sector and their families but on all of us who depend on the blue economy. The environment will also be endangered because commercial operators fishing methods have the potential to destroy corals and other fish habitats. This scenario is what was feared by groups such as ours which had worked on the Fisheries Resources Management Project for about six years in the late 1990s.

Braid, F. R. (2025, February 15). The plight of the municipal fishermen. Manila Bulletin, p. 4.