In a move to support small-scale fishers, Cagayan de Oro City 2nd District Representative Rufus Rodriguez introduced House Bill 11383 on February 3, 2025. The bill seeks to amend the Fisheries Code of 1998 by granting exclusive fishing rights to small fishers within municipal waters, extending 15 kilometers from the shoreline of coastal local government units. This legislative proposal comes in response to a recent Supreme Court decision that upheld a ruling allowing large commercial fishing operations to access these waters, which Rodriguez argues disadvantages small fishers and undermines local autonomy.
Rodriguez’s bill proposes to replace the term ‘preference’ with ‘exclusive rights’ in Section 17 of the Fisheries Code, aiming to ensure that only registered fisherfolk organizations and cooperatives can fish in these areas. He emphasized that this change is crucial for protecting the livelihoods of over 2.3 million fishers, half of whom rely on capture fisheries. The lawmaker warned that without this protection, the intense fishing pressure from commercial operations could lead to the collapse of fish stocks, severely impacting the communities dependent on these resources.
The representative also highlighted the constitutional provision that supports the preferential use of local marine resources by subsistence fishers, arguing that the current ruling contradicts this principle and the spirit of local autonomy established by the Local Government Code of 1991. Rodriguez stressed that municipal waters are vital for the survival of small-scale fishers, serving as a sanctuary against the competition posed by technologically advanced commercial fishing fleets.