PMCJ Forum: Sablayan fisherfolk air dismay over 15km SC ruling, resulting yield loss

Media Communications
Jul 20
3 min read

Quezon City, Philippines — Small-scale fisherfolk from various towns of Occidental Mindoro shared their experiences and struggles in a fisherfolk forum organized by the Philippine Movement for Climate Justice and other local organizations on July 15, 2025.

Fisherfolk from the municipalities of Sablayan, San Jose, Calintaan, Magsaysay, Rizal, and Paluan attended the forum, where they discussed the looming threat to their livelihood as the Supreme Court (SC) ruled in favor of commercial fishing vessels entering the 15 km municipal waters, slashing the preferential right granted to small-scale fishers by the Fisheries Code.

Laica Rayel, Food, Land, Water, and Climate (FLWC) Campaign Head of PMCJ, stated that the fisheries sector plays a significant role in the country's food security, and the enforcement of the SC ruling will be a substantial blow to the country's fish supply.

Rayel noted that repercussions from the SC ruling will be felt by the entire country, where 70% of its more than 1,500 municipalities are located within coastal areas. Furthermore, she stated that small-scale fisherfolk in these areas are at risk of losing their livelihoods and sources of income due to the unsustainable commercial extraction of fish, which has already led to lower fishing yields in previous years.

“The 15km ruling endangers the already declining fish catch of small-scale fisherfolk in the municipal waters. According to data from the Philippine Statistics Authority, production in the fisheries sector declined by 5% last year, marking the lowest total production since 2004. If commercial fishing enters the municipal waters, this could drop even lower and cause an even bigger crisis in our food security,” she added.

PMCJ Luzon Coordinator Erwin Puhawan discussed the legal context of the SC ruling, noting that establishing the Fisheries Code had been a significant effort, and it would also require considerable action to defend it from being invalidated altogether.

“We have come a long way to secure the rights of fisherfolk who rely on these waters to feed their families. We cannot afford to lose them in favor of capitalists who extract resources from our waters carelessly in the name of profit,” he added.

Mayor Walter “Bong” Marquez of Sablayan also shared his insights in the forum, highlighting the petition and intervention he, along with Sanlakas and other organizations, filed in the SC against the ruling.

In an earlier meeting with PMCJ, Mindoro Occidental Provincial Governor Eduardo Gadiano expressed dismay that he was not able to join the petition against the 15km ruling. He committed to issuing a statement in support of the fisherfolk on this issue and the impacts of the climate crisis in the province.

Puhawan emphasized that the 15km issue exacerbates the already existing struggles of the fisherfolk, which are further intensified by the climate crisis and its impacts on coastal communities.

“Declining fish yields is just one among the many manifestations of the climate crisis, which also includes the rapid and severe sea level rise that threatens to swallow coastal communities and extreme weather phenomena like intensified storms and typhoons that erase shorelines and cause storm surges,” he added.

“The fishing crisis in the country is a result of the climate crisis, backed by immense greed for profit. We need to stand up to both these problems by confronting the system that enables them altogether. Any advancement in the fight for sustainability and responsible use of our commons will create massive ripples down to the smallest units in our sectors and, ultimately, to climate justice,” Rayel concluded. ###

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