Panay fishers protest ahead of Marcos SONA

By Juliane Judilla

Provincial chapters of the Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas-Panay staged coordinated fluvial and coastal protests across Panay on July 19, eight days before President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s fifth State of the Nation Address.

Marcos is scheduled to deliver his SONA before Congress on July 27.

In Iloilo and Capiz, fisherfolk groups held fluvial protests to bring their demands to municipal waters.

Protesters carried banners calling for the reversal of the Supreme Court’s Mercidar ruling, which invalidated provisions reserving municipal waters extending up to 15 kilometers from the shoreline for municipal fisherfolk.

The ruling stemmed from a case involving Mercidar Fishing Corp. and provisions of the Philippine Fisheries Code that limited access to municipal waters.

In Aklan, PAMALAKAYA members held protests in coastal communities, echoing calls for stronger protection of municipal fishing grounds and greater government support for small-scale fisherfolk.

PAMALAKAYA-Panay said its provincial chapters in Aklan, Capiz and Iloilo organized simultaneous protest actions to express what they described as growing dissatisfaction with the Marcos administration’s management of the municipal fisheries sector.

The group said Marcos had failed to address the longstanding concerns of small-scale fisherfolk four years into his term.

“The administration lack the commitment to address the loopholes of the outdated Fisheries Code of 1998, decision to approve mostly aquaculture-related laws, complicity over the corruption scam that has robbed millions of fisherfolk of aid, and inability to defend the country’s sovereign rights to the West Philippine Sea (WPS) — especially amid the recent 10-year anniversary of the WPS arbitral ruling,” PAMALAKAYA-Panay spokesperson Nathaniel Baga-ut said.

The Philippines marked the 10th anniversary of the landmark 2016 arbitral ruling on July 12.

The ruling rejected the legal basis of China’s expansive maritime claims in the South China Sea, although Beijing continues to reject the decision.

The group also raised concerns over the reported 8.8% share of municipal fisheries production.

It cited insufficient livelihood assistance amid rising fuel prices and fishing restrictions, as well as policies that it said encourage increased imports through free-trade agreements.

PAMALAKAYA-Panay said the protests reflected broader calls for governance reforms.

The group urged the public to continue advocating for the rights of small-scale fisherfolk, national sovereignty and social justice ahead of the President’s annual address.