NGOs for Fisheries Reform

Manila, 29 February 2016 – A year after Republic Act (RA) 10654, which amended the Fisheries Code of 1998, was passed, fisherfolk associations, civil society organizations and environmental NGOs are underlining the gains of the amended law in a press conference held today.

 Senator Cynthia Villar, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Agriculture & Food and the primary author of RA 10654 or the Amended Fisheries Code, joined the groups and vowed continuous commitment towards enabling mechanisms for the strict implementation of the law.

“I am happy to tell the world, together with the more than 1.5 million municipal fisherfolk, that our RA 10654 has ushered the end of rampant, illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing (IUUF). The urgency in addressing poverty and allowing our seas to heal was my mantra in fighting back the lobby of big commercial fishers and illegal fishers,” said Senator Villar.

Villar also commended the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) for facilitating the formulation of the Implementing Rules and Regulations of the law and the Comprehensive National Fisheries Industry Development Plan, which was crafted by stakeholders in aquaculture, marketing, post harvest and capture, and which contain targets and action plans for development for the next five years.  She also cited the creation of Community Fish Landing Centers for the national development of shellfish, crabs, and broodstock.

“It is our common interest to make sure that there will be a continuous and healthy fishing industry in our country, and it can only be achieved if we prevent all foms of activities that jeopardize the sustainability of our resources,” Villar said. “I encourage all stakeholders to join us in making Philippine fisheries sustainable.”

Villar led the Senate in voting unanimously for the ratification of the reconciled version of Senate Bill 2414 and House Bill 4536 that amended the Philippine Fisheries Code of 1998. This came after the Philippines almost faced an export ban of fisheries product to the European Union (EU) for failing to address IUUF.According to BFAR, Philippine fish exports to the EU was valued at P9.4 billion (165 million euros) in 2013.

Fisheries and conservation NGOs, together with municipal fishers, used the EU warning as an opportunity to push for reforms to address the problems of the Philippine seas.

“Amending the law is a victory. RA 10654 provides the framework on the shift from an open access regime, where everybody and anybody can extract from our fragile coastal and marine ecosystems, to a sustainable fisheries management regime, where strict regulations against destructive fishing practices are in place and strictly implemented,” said Dennis Calvan, Executive Director of NGOs for Fisheries Reform (NFR), one of  the organizations who pushed for the amendment.

Calvan added that the reason more than 75% of our fishing grounds are overfished, as mentioned by BFAR in the National Stock Assessment Program, is due mainly to the long decades of neglect in implementing the Philippine Fisheries Code of 1998, leading to the destruction of coastal and marine resources.

“A year into RA 10654, strengthened fisheries law enforcement is already happening, with almost weekly apprehensions of illegal fishers in our waters. Increased penalties against dynamite fishing, cyanide fishing and encroachment of commercial fishing vessels within the 15-kilometer municipal waters, are now being strongly enforced in the Burias-Ticao Pass in the Bicol Region. Some of the fish are coming back abundantly in our waters,” said Miriam Belaos, a fisherfolk leader of Pantao Fisherfolks Association, based in Bicol.

The Amended Fisheries Code has strengthened the protection of the priority rights of municipal fishers by making the penalties deterrents to commercial fishing vessels plotting to conduct fishing activities inside municipal waters.

“We won the first stage, but we still need to do more by implementing harvest control rules for fisherfolk to fish within the limits of the sea and implement strong traceability system to make sure that the seafood that we are eating are not illegally caught,” said Vince Cinches, Oceans Campaigner for Greenpeace Philippines. “The solution is very viable as shown by the recent success of the Sustainable Seafood Week, where major hotels and restaurants pledged to only source and serve traceable and sustainably caught fish.”

Cinches also said that while the passing of the Amended Fisheries Law is a good start, he stressed the importance of this year’s Presidential elections to sustain the gains of the victory.

“While the year 2015 has established the basic ingredients for healthy Philippine seas, it is important that the next President of our country puts ocean conservation at the heart of governance in order to address poverty and usher in truly inclusive national development,” Cinches added.

Also present during the press conference are Lito Pavia and Joel Convocar, Bantay Dagat representatives from Ligao City, Albay; Bernie Castellano of the Occidental Mindoro Federation of Tuna Fishers Association Assisted by WWF; Councilor Pietro Pasigna and Jeruel Rizon, fisheries technician from Guihungan City, Negros Oriental, Assisted by Oceana.

The 2016 elections is fast approaching and just like in the past, we have runningcandidates from well-off families, a combination of the old and the new, the familiar and unfamiliar.In Tacloban City, the same people from the usual competing political clans, but only running for different elective positions filed their respective candidacies for the 2016 elections. Councilor Cristina Romualdez, the wife of the current mayor, Hon. Mayor Alfred Romualdez, took her bid for the mayoralty post against Councilor Neil Glova. She has no running mate, as incumbent Vice Mayor Zambo Yaokasin is going for re-election as an independent. Councilor Neil Glova also has no vice mayoralty bet.

Just about three months before the upcoming election, another set of promises and proposals will be made by any running candidate during the election campaign. It is like a marketing process, in which they present themselves as products, differentiate themselves from the other products and make proposals on how they will perform if they get the job. This is why campaign promises are such an important part of the election process, especially if they revolve around issues that divide a population or create emotional interest. With these, NGOs for Fisheries Reform, Inc. initiated a Fisherfolk Agenda meeting last February 15, 2016 at Ritz Tower de Leyte, Tacloban City as part of the policy advocacy programs. Around 30 participants, mostly fisherfolks and barangay leaders, fisherfolk associations and stakeholders actively participated the activity with the core purpose of formulating and developing fisherfolk agenda or programs as well as to solicit recommendations and support from municipal fishery sector. Subsequently, the creation of these fisherfolk agenda will lead to a bay-wide fisherfolk forum some time in April together with the presence ofTacloban Cityelectoral candidates in which these agenda and programs will be presented and thoroughly discussed,resulting to a social contract including what they would do to improve lives of the municipal fisher folks after being elected.

Meanwhile, the fisherfolk agenda meeting primarily revolved on the undying issues of livelihood in relation to their proposal of one (1) year closed season of Cancabato Bay. Rural Improvement Club (RIC), an organized women fisherfolk organization pointed out the need for resourceful and efficient alternative livelihoods such as mussel & oyster culture, center house and drying technologies for fish drying, capital for peddling (e.g. sari sari store) and food vending as alternative sources of income.In line with theproposed one year closed season of Cancabato Bay, a demand for a 40-footer fishing boat in every three (3) families which will be used for their fishing activities in Leyte Gulf once the proposed closed season is approved. Moreover, general debris clearing and retrieval operation will go along simultaneously with mangrove, sea grass, and coral rehabilitation. Issues on fisherfolk settlement, tide embankment, demolition of comfort rooms along the coast, boat landing and capacitating Bantay Dagat were also stressed out. Before the end of the meeting, Mr. Losanto Castillo, Jr., President of Tacloban Fisherfolk Urban Association (TFUA) highlighted out the event as stepping-stone on achieving the unfulfilled rights and welfares that they deserve. He also shared his appreciation to all his colleagues for actively partakingin the formulation of the fisherfolk agenda andasked to remain participative, persistent and hopeful in the next upcoming events.

Article written by Mr. Christian Salamida