The College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences (CFOS) held a Rogelio O. Juliano Lecture that highlighted a talk on municipal waters delivered by maritime law and security expert Atty. Jay L. Batongbacal of the UP College of Law on February 10, 2025 at the AV Hall, CFOS, UP Visayas Miagao.
A Director of the U.P. Institute of Maritime Affairs and Law of the Sea, Batongbacal gave a comprehensive presentation titled “Municipal Waters: Evolution and Prospects for Future Management.”
He discussed the history surrounding municipal waters in the country including the delineation of power to the local government unit (LGU) to conserve, manage, and safeguard the 15-kilometer municipal water zone.
Batongbacal also provided insights on the implications for the future of the fisheries sector of the recent decision of the Supreme Court (SC) affirming the Malabon Regional Trial Court ruling in favor of Mercidar Fishing Corp., declaring the definition of municipal waters in RA 8550 also known as the Philippine Fisheries Code of 1998 that restricts commercial fishing in the 15-km zone, invalid and unconstitutional, and allowing commercial fishing in waters deeper than seven fathoms, even within the 15-kilometer zone.
The maritime affairs and law of the sea expert questioned the validity and legality of the decision. He found its reasonings illogical. He also deemed the ruling weird as it only applied to Mercidar Fishing Corp.
“While declaring definition of municipal waters and exclusive jurisdiction of the local government unit under RA 8550 unconstitutional, interestingly, the Court ordered BFAR that it only applies to Mercidar Fishing Corp. and not to all commercial fishing companies. This made Mercidar Fishing Corp. a special company that now has the authority to fish in all municipal waters,” Batongbacal noted.
He warned that the recent SC ruling would lead to further challenges and disputes in the coming years. He said that if commercial fishing is allowed further into municipal waters, the persistent concerns of the small-scale fishers will not be addressed and the competition of municipal fisherfolk with the commercial fishers will be exacerbated.
He believed that if the government failed to overturn the RTC decision, all efforts to empower LGUs for transparent and participatory management, conservation, development, protection, and utilization of marine resources within municipal waters in accordance with national laws would be potentially undermined.
The CFOS has already taken a stand on the issue calling for the status quo of the existing prohibition on the entry of commercial fishing vessel operations in municipal waters as provided in RA 8550 and as amended by RA 10654 to ensure the sustainability of the municipal water and its resources. (please read here: __ )
The public lecture is in honour of Dr. Rogelio O. Juliano, the first dean of CFOS, UP Visayas, who was appointed twice (1970–1980 and 1986–1987). Juliano was a professor of Fisheries Science and advocated for fishery education in the Philippines. He later became Chancellor of UPV, succeeding Dr. Dionisia A. Rola, UPV’s first chancellor, in 1987.
The lecture kicked-off the weeklong celebration of the CFOS Foundation Week 2025 from February 10-14, 2025 with the theme, “Collective Action in Protecting Our Natural Aquatic Resources.”
