THOUSANDS of small-time fishermen and advocacy groups marched in front of Department of Agriculture (DA) in Quezon City on May 28, 2026 to protest over apparent failure to improve their general condition as they said the state agencies are more focused on the big and industrial fishing industry.
“Because of the negligence and collusion of corrupt and pro-commercial officials...Giant commercial fishing operations seized the 15-kilometer municipal fishing grounds and turned over the vast waters to capitalists for reclamation,” Pangisda fishermen's group president Pablo Rosales said in a statement.
“This has resulted in greater poverty and the denial of the rights of small fishers. Local fishing grounds are for the people and not for business,” he added.
As the Catholic-majority Philippines set to observe this year’s National Fisherfolk Day on May 31, president of the alliance of movements of artisanal fisherfolk of the country, Roberto Ballon said that there is no more reason for them to commemorate the occasion.
"There is nothing to celebrate because we remain in the poor sector," Ballon.
He added that the National Government favors big commercial fishers instead of the ordinary fishermen, citing the controversial Supreme Court ruling allowing commercial fishing boats to operate within municipal waters.
Aside from the displacement of small fishermen in the countryside, they were also stripped of their livelihoods because of the government’s push to hand over coastal areas to energy projects, offshore mining, and public infrastructure.
“It’s not only the large commercial fishing operations and reclamation that are depriving us of our livelihood and rights, but also fossil fuel-based projects," said Joseph Vargas, Samama-Ama and Cabatang fishers' group leader, citing the case in Batangas in Luzon Island of the county, which hosted coal powered plants and Liquefied Natural Gas, Liquefied Petroleum Gas terminals.
As this developed, Ballon and fellow fishers' group leaders urged lawmakers to pass three priority bills that seek security of tenure for municipal fisherfolk and fishworkers within the 15-kilometer municipal waters; stronger municipal fisheries governance to guarantee fisherfolk’s right to have access, manage, and protect marine resources within municipal waters; and fisherfolk settlement and coastal security to establish settlement areas near fishing grounds, provide security of tenure, protect fisherfolk communities from arbitrary displacement, promote climate-resilient coastal housing, and integrate livelihood facilities such as fish landing sites, gear repair spaces, post-harvest facilities, and basic social services.
"We are not asking for charity. We are asking for justice," Ballon said.
"If it is the sea that sustains the country, it is important that the welfare and livelihood of fishermen be given utmost attention as they are the ones who nurture it," he added.
Meanwhile, Fara Diva Gamalo, secretary general of Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC)-Eastern Visayas, maintained that "fishers have nothing to expect from a repeated system that favors businessmen and not the sector tagged as the poorest sector in the country."
In its 2025 report alone, Oceana Philippines, a nonprofit ocean conservation organization, reported the country is grappling with a mounting crisis in its fisheries sector as illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing continues to surge, undermining the livelihoods of small-scale fishers and threatening national food security.
Ian Rivera, national coordinator of Philippine Movement for Climate Justice (PMCJ), also cited Oceana reports' continued decline in the nation’s fisheries, with total losses reaching 591,136 metric tons of fish since 2010.
He said the situation is already translating to generational poverty in the coastal communities, with more than 353,000 fisherfolk families falling below the poverty line in 2023, and more than 93,000 of them classified as food-poor or unable to afford even the most basic food requirements. (Ronald O. Reyes/SunStar Philippines)
