Owners of deep-sea fishing vessels have asked the Malabon City regional trial court (RTC) to hold in contempt the national director of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) for allegedly ignoring a court directive that stopped the agency from enforcing the installation of vessel monitoring measures (VMM) and electronic reporting system (ERS).
In a verified petition for indirect contempt and injunction, the operators of the fishing vessels owned by NFH Corporation and Adruth Fish Dealer told the RTC that BFAR National Director Eduardo B. Gongona had threatened to issue a notice of violation and recommend the non-issuance of their licenses and other documents needed in their operations.
NFH and Adruth were represented by Frederick L. Uy and Ruth B. Dimaiwat, respectively, in the petition.
They told the RTC that the “threatened acts of the respondent (Gongona) would cause them grave and irreparable injury” and would constitute violations of their constitutional right to due process.
In 2020, the Department of Agriculture (DA) issued Fishery Administrative Order (FAO) 266 to implement the VMM. FAO 266 prohibited “all commercial catcher fishing vessels operating in Philippine waters and all fishing vessels in distant waters from engaging in fishing activity without VVM” and that “Electronic Reporting System (ERC) shall be used to record and report catch data for all vessels subject to VVM.”
FAO 266 was designed to intensify the campaign against illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.
Several owners of commercial deep-sea fishing vessels filed a petition before the Malabon City RTC challenging the constitutionality of FAO 266.
They said that the information to be recorded and reported via ERS -- like position of the vessel where the fish was caught, date and time and vessel activity -- are sensitive information and part of their trade secrets and proprietary information.
“The recording and reporting of petitioners’ trade secrets not only violate their privacy, but also expose them to suffer tremendous losses,” they also said.
Also, they said that the requirement for commercial fishing vessel to be equipped with VMS or vessel monitoring system violates their constitutional right against unlawful searches.
On June 1, 2021, the RTC declared FAO 266 unconstitutional.
In its decision, the RTC declared:
“The instant petition is granted. Fisheries Administrative Order No. 266 Series of 2020 (FAO 266) is declared null and void for being unconstitutional and thus ultra vires, illegal, void and contrary to the provision of RA 8550, as amended.
“Consequently, all memoranda, orders and other issuances to public respondents’ regional offices and other government agencies issued pursuant to or in implementing FAO 266 are declared null and void.”
Despite the RTC’s order which has not been stopped by a higher court and not even the Supreme Court (SC), the owners said:
“Should the respondent be tolerated in ignoring and/or trampling upon the validity of the rendered judgment of the Malabon City RTC, petitioners (owners of fishing vessels) will suffer injury in terms of spending substantial amount of money just to submit to the illegal, in fact unconstitutional, imposition of the respondent.
“And, should petitioners’ license to operate commercial fishing vessels be forfeited or revoked because they did not kowtow to respondent’s unlawful order, petitioners stand to lose a legitimate source of income. And that is not to mention the many others who are under their employ.
“Despite the permanent injunction and the lack of a suspending, modifying or staying order coming from the trial court or the Supreme Court, respondent Eduardo B. Gongona sent petitioners substantially similar letters dated June 21, 2021 threatening sanctions in the event that the petitioners fail to comply with the respondent’s directive therein.”
They asked the RTC presided by Judge Zaldy B. Docena to issue a writ of preliminary injunction against Gongona and other persons acting in his behalf compelling them to implement the trial courts June 1, 2021 decision unless overturned or set aside by the SC.