by Tiffany Xu
BAROTAC NUEVO, ILOILO – This November 21, on World Fisheries Day, fisherfolk and consumers alike are still reeling from the hard-hit impacts of a looming intensification in commercial fishing incursions, supposed state neglect, and a full-force fish ban.
A fisherfolk forum by the recently launched Aton Ang Kinse (AAK) Alliance was attended by over 100 fisheries students and fisherfolk leaders at the Cultural Center of the Iloilo State University of Fisheries Science and Technology, Barotac Nuevo Campus.
The three fora speakers hailed from diverse backgrounds — one an environmentalist and fisherfolk advocate, the second a regional representative of a partylist that was among those that filed the Aton Ang Kinse Kilometro (AAKK) Bill, and a university professor doubling as a people’s lawyer.
AAK Convenor and YouProtec Coordinator Nathaniel Baga-ut bared a situationer of the most marginalized, or the municipal subsector in fisheries. “Our municipal waters are a matter of food, livelihood, shelter, and life itself. What will you fisheries students study when there are no fish left to catch or see?”, Baga-ut stressed in Hiligaynon.
Arlie Bosque, current Secretary-General of Kabataan Partylist (KPL) Panay, shared the salient points of House Bill No. 5606. The AAKK Bill according to him, aims to directly counter the landmark Mercidar Supreme Court ruling that will exacerbate commercial operations in municipal fishing grounds.
Atty. Clyde Gacayan from the National Union of People’s Lawyers (NUPL) and University of the Philippines Visayas presented his findings regarding a public policy research on local government responses to the Mercidar ruling. He attests that politics is always at play in government implementation, but hope can be seen from a growing mass movement until the Supreme Court decides on an en banc decision corresponding to the 15-kilometer municipal waters issue.
A day after the implementation of the Nov. 15 Visayan Sea fish ban, progressive fisher group PAMALAKAYA-Panay assailed the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) in a press statement over what they claim is a palliative solution to lack of support and inability to address the roots of overfishing within the leading implementing agency.
At the UP Visayas Miagao Campus, the student council of the College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences conducted a flash interview with students bannering fisheries-related calls.
Several militant groups in Luzon also marched in unison to assert pro-fisherfolk demands in front of the offices of BFAR and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR)./PT
