By Rjay Zuriaga Castor
Sen. Imee Marcos has called for a review of the Philippine Fisheries Code (Republic Act No. 8550) to better protect municipal fisheries, particularly in light of changing environmental conditions.
Marcos made the call following the Supreme Court’s (SC) landmark ruling, which allows commercial fishing vessels to operate within municipal waters, a zone previously reserved for small-scale fishers.
“I contend that we should revisit my father’s (former President Ferdinand Marcos Sr.) formulation for the Philippine Fisheries Code. In my father’s version, our old fisheries code clearly had two criteria,” Marcos said at a press conference on Feb. 12.
She claimed that her father’s version, Presidential Decree (PD) No. 704 of 1975, included both distance from the high-water mark and depth as criteria for defining municipal waters.
“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.
Examining PD 704 and RA 8550
PD 704 aimed to revise and consolidate all laws affecting fishing and fisheries to accelerate the development of the industry.
A review of PD 704 shows that it defined municipal waters through distance but did not explicitly mention depth as a criterion.
The decree later laid the groundwork for RA 8550, enacted in 1998, which expanded and refined fishery management and conservation policies.
With the decades-old decree, Marcos stressed that climate change is altering ocean levels, which in turn affects the extent of municipal waters.
“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.
Defining ‘Access’ to Municipal Waters
Marcos also highlighted the need to clarify the term “access” in fisheries laws to prevent misinterpretations and safeguard the rights of municipal fishers.
She noted that the Supreme Court’s decision has instilled fear among small fishermen over commercial vessels encroaching on their territory.
“To prevent this and clarify the concept of ‘access,’ I believe we should revisit the old fisheries code and incorporate depth alongside distance from the high-water mark,” she added.
