09/10/2026
๐๐๐ง๐๐ญ๐จ๐ซ ๐๐ฎ๐ฅ๐๐จ, ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ ๐๐ฏ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ฉ๐๐๐๐ก. ๐๐จ๐ฐ ๐ฅ๐๐๐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฉ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ก ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐๐จ๐ซ๐ฐ๐๐ซ๐.
On September 30, 2026, Senator Raffy Tulfo delivered a privilege speech on small-scale fisherfolk and said Congress is "not powerless." He is right. He also now chairs the Senate Committee on Environment, Natural Resources, and Climate Change. That makes the next step his to take; he is now expected to listen and lead.
๐๐ก๐ฒ? ๐๐๐๐๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐ก๐๐ซ๐ข๐๐ฌ ๐๐ซ๐ ๐ฌ๐ก๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐ค๐ข๐ง๐ .
Roughly 6 in 10 Philippine municipalities and cities are coastal. The country has about 2.6 million fisherfolk. Marine municipal catch fell to 802,770 MT in 2024, the lowest in two decades (Oceana Philippines, 2025). It fell another 4.2% in 2025. So the real stakes are food security, jobs, and survival.
To read more, here's the Philippine Fisheries Assessment of Oceana: https://ph.oceana.org/press-releases/new-report-philippine-fisheries-in-freefall-45-million-kilos-of-fish-lost-annually/
๐๐ฐ๐จ ๐ซ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฌ, ๐จ๐ง๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ฃ๐จ๐ซ ๐ ๐๐ฉ ๐ข๐ง ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐ก๐๐ซ๐ข๐๐ฌ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐ญ๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง
Mercidar. A Malabon court allowed commercial fishing inside the 15-km municipal waters wherever the water is at least seven fathoms deep (December 2023). In August 2024, the Supreme Court dismissed the government's appeal for being filed late. It never ruled on the merits. Oceana estimates that 533 of 884 coastal municipalities could see about 90% of their municipal waters opened up.
FAO 266. The Supreme Court declared FAO 266 unconstitutional, affirming a 2021 Malabon court ruling. The order, in effect since October 2020, required commercial fishing vessels to install satellite tracking and report their catch electronically so authorities could detect illegal fishing. The decision was promulgated on Jan. 21, 2026, and made public in late July. The Court held that the order failed the rational-basis test. It also ruled that the order violated commercial operators' rights against unreasonable search and seizure, to due process, and to equal protection. The ruling is not yet final. BFAR and fisherfolk groups have asked the court to reconsider.
๐๐จ๐ฐ, ๐ฐ๐ก๐ฒ ๐ข๐ญ ๐ฆ๐๐ญ๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ฌ?
Municipal waters hold the coral reefs, mangroves, and seagrass beds that fish breed and grow in; they are crucial ecosystems and the foundation of fisheries in the Philippines. Small fishers in small boats cannot compete with radar-equipped commercial fleets. FAO 266 was the cheapest way to see who is actually fishing there. Without it, commercial vessels can operate "largely unseen." Senator Legarda says the government's late filings, not the merits, are why the Mercidar ruling stood. Someone in government should be answering for that.
๐๐๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐ญ๐๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ก๐๐ข๐ซ ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ง๐๐ญ๐ ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐๐ ๐จ๐ง ๐๐ง๐ฏ๐ข๐ซ๐จ๐ง๐ฆ๐๐ง๐ญ, ๐๐๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐๐ฅ ๐๐๐ฌ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ๐๐๐ฌ, ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ฆ๐๐ญ๐ ๐๐ก๐๐ง๐ ๐
Senator Tulfo, a speech costs nothing. A hearing schedule, a committee report, and a vote cost something, and those are the things that protect fishers. Habitats are an environmental question, and that is your committee's ground. SB 522, the Municipal Fisherfolk Protection Act that you co-authored with Sen. Legarda, had its Senate hearing in the Agriculture committee in February.
We ask you to commit publicly to the following:
1. A joint hearing with the Agriculture Committee on SB 522, with a date announced.
2. Coordinate with BFAR, the Department of Agriculture, and the OSG on why the Mercidar appeal was filed late and who is accountable.
3. Fisherfolk, LGUs, NGOs, and marine scientists at the table, along with the FAO 266 intervenors.
4. A committee report on what commercial fishing in municipal waters means for coral, seagrass, and mangrove habitats.
5. A replacement vessel monitoring framework that can survive the Court's test, a real and genuine follow-up policy measure to protect our small-scale fisherfolk and municipal waters.
We will keep track of what the committee does with this.
๐๐ฎ๐ซ ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ญ๐จ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ง๐๐ญ๐ ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ญ๐ก ๐๐จ๐ง๐ ๐ซ๐๐ฌ๐ฌ
โ
To the Senate, we ask you to move SB 522 and integrate a legally sound vessel monitoring law into the existing draft, considering the technical recommendations of marine scientists and fisheries practitioners.
โ
To the House of Representatives, we ask you to file and fast-track counterpart bills. One chamber cannot protect the 15-km zone alone; it is strategic for parallel policy action.
โ
Let's work together, because our Fisherfolk cannot wait for the next legal fight where their voices are not heard.
