MANILA, Philippines – Caloocan’s Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David and 49 other bishops from the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) have stood against the Supreme Court (SC) ruling that allowed big business to fish within 15-kilometer municipal waters.
“The wonder and vastness of God’s creation remind us of His boundless wisdom and love (Psalm 104) as entrusted to us as stewards. As we enter a new year, it pains us to find this sacred trust for the integrity of His creation threatened, and our life and survival, particularly the artisanal and municipal fisherfolk, challenged,” David and the bishops said in their prayer.
“This decision is deeply troubling, for it runs counter to the guiding principles of our nation. The 1987 Constitution, the Local Government Code, Republic Act 10654 (Fisheries Code of 1998, as amended), and related national laws all affirm the preferential rights of artisanal, small-scale fisherfolk in municipal waters,” they added.
The copy of the Catholic leaders’ prayer, titled “Prayer for Municipal Fisherfolk and Our People: Aligning Our Mission in Christ With Social Justice & the Wisdom of the Law,” may be accessed here.
The CBCP said the statement will be read after the celebration of Holy Masses on Sunday, February 2, in churches under the jurisdiction of bishops signatory in the opposition. This will be done “to reach a wider audience and encourage greater public engagement in protecting municipal fishers and marine resources.”
Diocese of San Carlos Bishop and Caritas Philippines vice president Gerardo Alminaza said during a press conference on Saturday, February 1, that Caritas Philippines drafted the prayer. Caritas serves as the CBCP’s humanitarian, development, and advocacy arm.
The bishop said the statement was routed to bishops, who then affixed their signatures to the statement. Alminaza added that more bishops might sign the prayer soon.
In a decision made public in December 2024, the SC upheld the ruling of a Malabon City Regional Trial Court that allowed Mercidar Fishing Corporation to fish within municipal waters — an area supposedly designated for small fisherfolk. The Malabon City court had allowed Mercidar to operate within the 15-kilometer municipal waters, except in shallow waters, in a December 2023 decision.
A Rappler investigation showed that the fishing corporation is partly owned by Monica Cordoba, the wife of former National Telecommunications Commission chief-turned-Commission on Audit Chairperson Gamaliel Cordoba. Under Cordoba’s watch, the NTC did not issue service identity numbers needed by the system that tracks commercial vessels at sea.
“With 90% of municipal waters of most of our coastal towns at risk of exploitation by commercial fishers equipped with active and often destructive fishing gears, the consequences are dire: depleted fish stocks, loss of critical spawning grounds, and worsening poverty and hunger among already-marginalized communities,” Oceana vice president Gloria Estenzo Ramos said during Saturday’s press conference.
Oceana was among the groups that asked the High Court that they be allowed to intervene in the case.
On January 28, lawmakers from the progressive Makabayan bloc filed a resolution that urged the House panel on aquaculture and fisheries resources to conduct a probe into the impacts of the SC ruling on small fisherfolk. – Rappler.com