MANILA: A day after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. highlighted government aid for nearly two million farmers and fisherfolk in his fifth State of the Nation Address (Sona), municipal fishers had a message of their own: they do not want to remain dependent on subsidies. They want the government to protect the fishing grounds the law has long reserved for them. Gathering in Quezon City on Tuesday, July 28, for what they called the "State of the Fisherfolk Address 2026", a kontra-Sona, or counter-Sona, small-scale fisherfolk leaders, marine conservation group Oceana, scientists, legislators, youth advocates and local government officials said Marcos' nearly three-hour speech failed to acknowledge what they described as the country's worsening fisheries crisis. They argued that the administration continues to focus on financial assistance while leaving unresolved what they consider the sector's most urgent concern: the continued entry of commercial fishing vessels into the country's 15-kilometre municipal waters, which Philippine law reserves primarily for municipal and subsistence fisherfolk. The forum carried the theme: "Pangakong Kinse: Para sa mga mangingisda o para sa negosyante? State of the Fisherfolk Address 2026." During Monday's Sona, Marcos cited government interventions during the recent oil price crisis, including the Presidential Assistance to Farmers, Fisherfolk and Families (PAFFF) programme. He said the government had extended support to nearly two million farmers and fisherfolk at the height of soaring fuel prices. He also highlighted Kadiwa markets, where farmers and fisherfolk could directly sell their produce, as among the measures meant to cushion the impact of the energy crisis. For municipal fisherfolk, however, those interventions fell short of addressing the deeper problems confronting the sector. "Kay Pangulong Marcos: hindi kami humihingi ng ayuda," said Eduardo Diaz, chair of Ugnayan ng Maliliit na Mangingisda (UMALMA) in Tayabas Bay. "Humihingi kami ng assurance na sa dami ng krisis sa pangisdaan, huwag kami mapag-iwanan." (To President Marcos: We are not asking for aid. We are asking for assurance that, amid the many crises confronting the fisheries sector, we will not be left behind.) The fisherfolk's response comes as the country grapples with years of declining fish catch, persistent commercial fishing intrusions into municipal waters and growing concerns over the long-term sustainability of Philippine fisheries. According to Oceana, government assistance may provide temporary relief during periods of rising fuel costs, but it does little to address the structural problems driving the decline of municipal fisheries. The group said small-scale fishers continue to compete with commercial fishing vessels that repeatedly enter municipal waters despite long-standing legal protections granting municipal fisherfolk preferential access to the country's nearshore fishing grounds. Oceana Vice President Von Hernandez said the administration's emphasis on subsidies risks treating the symptoms rather than the causes of the fisheries crisis. He described the Sona's prescription as "Ayudang kapos at hikahos sa dignidad (Dole outs that are never enough and deprived of dignity)." "This fisheries sector is propped up only by subsidies, while profits flow to commercial fishers because they continue to exploit fish inside municipal waters due to systemic failure in governance," Hernandez said. "And this same regulatory absence will now favour aquaculture operators at the expense of small-scale fisherfolk who will be displaced in their nearshore fishing grounds in favour of fish cages and mariculture farms," he added. At the centre of the fisherfolk's appeal are the country's 15-kilometre municipal waters — nearshore fishing grounds that Philippine law has long reserved primarily for municipal and subsistence fisherfolk to protect their livelihoods and the marine resources on which coastal communities depend. Municipal waters extend up to 15 kilometres from the shoreline, covering about 308,612 sq km across more than 36,000km of coastline and encompassing about 930 coastal local government units tasked with managing nearshore fisheries. They also serve as breeding and nursery grounds for fish and contain critical habitats such as coral reefs, mangroves and seagrass beds. Under Republic Act No. 8550, or the Philippine Fisheries Code of 1998, municipal fisherfolk are granted preferential access to these waters. Republic Act No. 10654 later strengthened enforcement against illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, while commercial fishing remained generally prohibited within municipal waters except under limited conditions involving water depth, local government approval, public consultation and environmental safeguards. Those long-standing protections are now at the centre of a legal battle that has alarmed fisherfolk, local governments and marine conservation advocates. In October 2023, commercial fishing firm Mercidar Fishing Corp. filed a petition with the Malabon Regional Trial Court (RTC) challenging provisions of the Fisheries Code and its implementing rules that define municipal waters, grant local governments jurisdiction over them and give municipal fisherfolk preferential access to nearshore fishing grounds. The RTC ruled in Mercidar's favour on Dec. 11, 2023, declaring several of those provisions unconstitutional. It held that municipal waters are natural resources under the authority of the national government, not local governments, and that the Fisheries Code's preferential rights for municipal fisherfolk do not expressly prohibit commercial fishing operations. The ruling also allowed Mercidar to fish within municipal waters where the water is at least seven fathoms deep, subject to its commercial fishing licence. The Office of the Solicitor General (OSG), representing the Department of Agriculture and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), sought to overturn the decision. But in August 2024, the Supreme Court's First Division dismissed the government's appeal on procedural grounds after finding that it had been filed beyond the allowable period, allowing the RTC ruling to stand for the parties involved. The OSG has since sought reconsideration, while Oceana, municipal fisherfolk and other groups have asked to intervene, arguing that the case directly affects coastal communities and the government's ability to protect municipal waters. Sen. Risa Hontiveros has sought a Senate inquiry into BFAR's implementation of its Vessel Monitoring Measures through Senate Resolution No. 324, citing continued commercial fishing intrusions despite billions of pesos invested in vessel monitoring technology. Sen. Francis "Kiko" Pangilinan has also questioned BFAR's implementation of the Mercidar ruling, citing testimony from fisherfolk and local officials that commercial fishing inside municipal waters has reduced fish catches and incomes. Meanwhile, Sen. Loren Legarda has filed the proposed Municipal Fisherfolk Protection Act, which seeks to declare the 15-kilometre municipal waters exclusively reserved for municipal fisherfolk. The House of Representatives is deliberating House Bill No. 5606, or the "Atin ang Kinse Kilometro" Bill, which likewise seeks to restore the exclusive fishing rights of municipal and subsistence fisherfolk. The legislative and legal efforts come as satellite monitoring by Oceana's Karagatan Patrol continues to detect commercial fishing activity inside municipal waters. The platform recorded 3,853 apparent commercial fishing entries in March 2026 — the highest monthly figure since monitoring began in 2022. Through the first three months of 2026, it logged 7,560 detections. Fisherfolk groups said the figures highlight the need for stronger enforcement of municipal waters protections. For Oceana, the concern extended beyond the President's discussion of subsidies. The conservation group said the Sona made no direct mention of the country's fisheries crisis despite mounting evidence of declining fish stocks and worsening poverty among fishing communities. "Year after year, the Sona fails to mention the seas that surround us and feed us. So, one day after the President's address, it is the fisherfolk who are telling their story," said Rose-Liza Eisma-Osorio, Oceana's senior director for campaigns, legal and policy. She questioned whether the government's current direction in fisheries addresses the underlying causes of declining fish production. "The 52% gain from aquaculture applauded by the BFAR is actually a consequence of a decade-long collapse in capture fisheries. You cannot fill an ice plant with fish that are no longer there. So we ask: para sa mangingisda ba itong ginagawa ng gobyerno, o para sa negosyante?" Oceana argued that recent government announcements — including investments in new ice plants, expanded fish ports, a partnership involving Danish midwater trawling technology and a broader push for aquaculture — place greater emphasis on increasing production than rebuilding depleted fish stocks. "The pivot to aquaculture itself is an admission that the government has failed to reverse the collapse of capture fisheries," Hernandez said. The group maintained that these initiatives do not directly address what it considers the primary drivers of declining municipal fisheries: overfishing, weak enforcement and commercial fishing encroachment inside municipal waters. "The primary threats to our municipal waters are still present and, in some cases, worsening," Hernandez said. "Small fishers continue to face intense competition from commercial fishers encroaching on the 15-kilometre municipal zone — a key reason for fish depletion." The fisherfolk's counter-Sona comes against the backdrop of a prolonged decline in the country's capture fisheries, which marine conservation advocates say has steadily eroded both livelihoods and food security. Oceana's 2026 Net Loss audit reported that the Philippines loses an average of 45 millionkg of fish annually, while capture fisheries production declined from 2.6 million metric tonnes in 2010 to 1.9 million metric tonnes in 2023. The group also cited government poverty data showing that 353,190 fisherfolk families lived below the poverty line in 2023, including 93,030 families experiencing food insecurity. For Hernandez, those figures underscore why the fisheries sector deserves greater attention from policymakers. "The President named poverty alleviation and food security as his priorities when he was voted into office, but you cannot claim either while ignoring a fisheries crisis that keeps millions of fisherfolk among the poorest Filipinos," he said. "We are not just losing fish; we are losing artisanal fishers and their legacy of sustainable fishing," he added. - Inquirer/ANN
