Mercidar Case Ruling: Commercial Fishing Encroaches on Municipal Waters
In October 2023, Mercidar Fishing Corporation filed a legal challenge that now stands to reshape the very heart of Philippine municipal fisheries. Known as the Mercidar Case, it questioned the constitutionality of key provisions in the Philippine Fisheries Code (RA 8550, as amended by RA 10654) and its implementing rules (DAO No. 1, s. 2015)—the same provisions that protect municipal waters within 15 kilometers from the shoreline, reserving them exclusively for small-scale, subsistence fisherfolk.
Because of procedural lapses by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Malabon declared these protective sections unconstitutional in December 2023. This ruling effectively opened nearshore municipal waters—long stewarded by artisanal fishers and local governments—to large commercial fishing vessels operating in waters at least seven fathoms deep.
In August 2024, the Supreme Court First Division affirmed the RTC’s ruling, citing technical defaults. In response, the Department of Agriculture and BFAR filed a Motion for Reconsideration (January 2025), supported by fisherfolk alliances, local governments, and advocacy groups nationwide. As of October 2025, the decision is not yet final and executory, leaving a crucial window for corrective legal and policy action.
Photo by Jojo Sescon
Why It Matters
Municipal waters are the lifeblood of over 1.3 million small-scale fishers across the country. These nearshore zones sustain families, secure local food supplies, and shelter vital marine habitats such as seagrass beds, mangroves, and coral reefs. Opening them to industrial fleets not only threatens biodiversity and fish stocks—it also undermines social justice, local governance, and the cultural identity of coastal communities.
In Palawan, where generations of fishers have lived by the rhythm of the sea, the ruling could erase decades of community-led stewardship and legal protection. The sea is not merely a resource—it is heritage, sustenance, and life.
Palawan’s Response: Defending the Kinse
In September 2025, the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Palawan passed a resolution urging the national government and relevant agencies to seek a Temporary Environmental Protection Order (TEPO) against the enforcement of the Mercidar ruling. The initiative aims to prevent commercial intrusion into municipal waters while the Supreme Court reviews pending motions for reconsideration.
ELAC strongly supports this provincial initiative, recognizing it as both a legal safeguard and a moral stand for coastal communities. The TEPO would preserve the ecological balance of nearshore habitats, uphold the preferential rights of small-scale fishers under Sections 4 and 18 of the Fisheries Code, and give time for due process to protect what remains of the country’s sustainable fishing zones.
Our Stand
The Environmental Legal Assistance Center (ELAC) stands firmly with municipal fisherfolk, Indigenous Peoples, and local governments across the Philippines. We call on the Supreme Court to revisit and reverse the decision, and on national agencies to vigorously defend the constitutionality of the Fisheries Code’s protective provisions.
We urge all local governments, enforcement units, and citizens to document encroachments, assert jurisdiction, and uphold marine protection ordinances. Palawan’s proactive leadership in pursuing a TEPO should inspire other provinces to act decisively in defense of community-managed coastal waters.
What You Can Do
Stay informed. Read our Guide to Understanding the Mercidar Case and Its Implications for Municipal Fishers.
Stand in solidarity. Support the call for a TEPO to safeguard our 15-km municipal waters.
Join and share. Help amplify the voices of small fishers defending our seas.
Together, we can ensure that the kinse (15 km) remains a sanctuary for those who depend on it most.
Stand with Palawan. Defend municipal waters. Uphold justice for our seas. 
#ProtectMunicipalWaters #DefendTheKinse #StandWithFishers #MercidarCase #ELAC #EnvironmentalJustice
Read: Gabay sa pag-unawa sa Mercidar Case at implikasyon sa mga municipal na mangingisda sa Pilipinas (A Guide to Understanding the Mercidar Case and Its Implications for Municipal Fishers in the Philippines).
#ProtectMunicipalWaters #StandWithFishers #MercidarCase #SocialJustice #ELAC
