Fisher's group Pamalakaya is urging four local government units (LGUs) in the province of Cavite to stand with their constituents who are bound to lose source of livelihood against the order of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to dismantle illegal fishing structures in their coastal areas.
In a statement released on Monday, Sept. 20, Pamalakaya urged the LGUs of Cavite City, Bacoor City, Noveleta, and Kawit "to stand alongside their coastal constituents on their fight against the unjust order" of the DENR to demolish mussel and oyster farms in the Manila Bay.
According to the group, the order will only displace at least 15,000 residents whose livelihood depends on mussel and oyster farming in the area. The group also doubted the mandate by saying that DENR's order is only a "prelude to massive reclamation projects that are meant to wipe out not only the fishing structures but also the fishing villages along Manila Bay."
PAMALAKAYA asserted that local government units can cite the Section 16 of the Local Government Code of 1991 to go against the agency.
The provision stated that LGUs are mandated to promote the general welfare of their constituents and ensure support, among other things, the preservation and enrichment of culture and enhance the right of the people to a balanced ecology within their respective territorial jurisdiction.
"The local executives in Cavite are morally, politically, and constitutionally obliged to protect the welfare of tens of thousands of fisherfolk who are deemed to lose their source of livelihood courtesy of the national government’s directive against fishing structures in Manila Bay," Fernando Hicap, PAMALAKAYA national chairperson, said in a statement.
"We will continue to oppose this undertaking in various legal institutions such as the Supreme Court and the Philippine Congress, and through mass actions in the parliament of the streets and in the court of public opinion," he added.
The schedule of the fishing structures dismantling in Manila Bay has been postponed from September 7 to September 25. Despite this, PAMALAKAYA said it will continue to monitor and protest the demolition order.
In a press briefing on Sept. 8, DENR Usec. Benny Antiporda said small-scale fisherfolk would benefit from the dismantling of illegal structures in the Manila Bay as they would no longer have to travel far to avoid the said structures just to fish.