Imee urges review of fisheries code

ILOILO CITY — Sen. Imee Marcos has called for a review of the country's fisheries laws to better protect small-scale fishers, particularly in light of envi-ronmental changes and a recent Supreme Court ruling that allows commercial fishing vessels to operate within municipal waters.

FOR THE FISHERS Sen. Imee Marcos (center) holds a press conference to the local media ahead of the Alyansa sa Bagong Pilipinas proclamation rally in Iloilo City on Feb. 13, 2025. PHOTO BY RJAY ZURIAGA CASTOR

Marcos said the Philippine Fisheries Code or Republic Act (RA) 8550 should be revisited, citing the fears of municipal fishermen from commercial ves-sels encroaching on their territories.

"I contend that we should revisit my father's (former president Ferdinand Marcos Sr.) formulation for the Philippine Fisheries Code. In my father's ver-sion, our old fisheries code clearly had two criteria," she said in a press conference in this city on Wednesday.

Marcos was referring to the Presidential Decree (PD) 704 issued by the late president in 1975.

"It wasn't just about distance, like municipal waters being measured from the high water mark. More importantly, it also considered depth — accounting for both the distance and the depth, the high water mark, and the number of fathoms deep," she said.

However, a review of PD 704 shows that while it established distance as a defining factor for municipal waters, it does not explicitly mention depth as a criterion.

The decree later served as the foundation for RA 8550, which was enacted in 1998 during the administration of then-president Fidel Ramos to strength-en fishery management and conservation.

The senator also stressed that climate change is affecting ocean levels, which could impact the extent of municipal waters under the existing law.

"The review is important because, with climate change, we know that ocean levels fluctuate, causing municipal waters to shrink. Therefore, I believe we should revisit this policy and use two qualifiers rather than just one," she said.

Marcos underscored the need to clarify the term "access" in fisheries legislation to prevent conflicts between small-scale fishers and commercial fishing operators.

"To prevent this and clarify the concept of 'access,' I believe we should revisit the old fisheries code and incorporate depth alongside the distance from the high water mark," she added.

On Dec. 20, 2024, the Court's First Division upheld a lower court decision that allowed Mercidar Fishing Corp. to operate within the 15-kilometer mu-nicipal waters, traditionally reserved for small-scale fishers.

Fishers group Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas said the decision is expected to significantly affect over two million registered small-scale fishers nationwide, as it opens up nearly 90 percent of coastal waters to commercial vessels.