Constitution Framer and Catholic Leader File Supreme Court Petition To Protect Municipal Waters
Press Release Date: April 24, 2025
Prominent champions of social and environmental justice have filed a petition before the Supreme Court en banc, seeking to overturn a lower court decision that permits commercial fishing within the 15-kilometer municipal waters traditionally reserved for small-scale fishers under Philippine law.
Leading the petition are Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David, Atty. Christian S. Monsod, a framer of the 1987 Constitution, and Atty. Grizelda Mayo-Anda, a veteran environmental lawyer and advocate for coastal communities.
The petition challenges a December 2023 ruling by the Malabon Regional Trial Court (RTC), which invalidated key provisions of Republic Act No. 8550, or the Fisheries Code. The RTC decision struck down local government jurisdiction over municipal waters and the law’s mandate to give preferential access to small-scale fishers—effectively erasing what the petitioners describe as “wholesale constitutional and statutory protections” for coastal communities.
The petitioners call out the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) and the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) of a “sluggish” defense of the Fisheries Code, arguing that their inaction contributed to the RTC ruling’s far-reaching consequences.
They assert that the decision threatens the constitutional rights of small-scale fishers and puts the country’s marine ecosystems at risk. “Allowing commercial vessels to operate within municipal waters jeopardizes the livelihoods of thousands of subsistence fishers and accelerates the depletion of already fragile fish stocks,” the petition reads. Atty. Monsod, a drafter of the 1987 Constitution, emphasized that the framers of the Constitution intended to protect marginalized fisherfolk from exploitation by powerful commercial interests. “It was a deliberate move towards ecological balance and social justice,” he said.
Cardinal David joined the petition to make a moral stand, invoking the Church’s “preferential option for the poor” and the collective moral responsibility to protect both people and the environment from exploitation.
Atty. Mayo-Anda, a long-time defender of coastal rights, warned that the Malabon RTC decision could set a dangerous precedent by effectively opening nearly all municipal waters to commercial operations and weakening safeguards against illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing.
The RTC ruling originated from a constitutional challenge filed by Mercidar Fishing Corporation, a Navotas-based commercial fishing company. The firm sought to nullify restrictions that prohibit commercial fishing within 15 kilometers of the shore—waters explicitly reserved for municipal fishers. The RTC sided with the corporation, nullifying long-standing principles of local autonomy and devolved environmental governance.
In response, the OSG filed a petition for review with the Supreme Court, but it was dismissed by the Court’s First Division on procedural grounds, declaring the appeal filed too late and the RTC decision final. Despite this, BFAR and several local governments have sought further legal remedies, citing the case’s unresolved environmental and constitutional implications.
Now, in a renewed legal effort, the petitioners are asking the Supreme Court en banc to reverse the RTC ruling, calling it a case of “judicial legislation” and a gross violation of the constitutional separation of powers.
Filed at the Supreme Court in Padre Faura, Manila, the petition expresses hope that the Court will uphold constitutional principles, protect marine ecosystems, and reaffirm the rights of small-scale fishers. “This is not only a legal issue,” said the petitioners, “but a matter of social justice, sustainability, and the future of our coastal communities.” (END)