PALO, Leyte — Fisherfolk groups, members of the academe and civil society organizations renewed calls to protect Leyte’s municipal waters from the encroachment of commercial fishing vessels, warning that small-scale fishers stand to lose their livelihoods.

Bearing placards reading “Aton an Kinse (15 is ours),” hundreds of fisheries stakeholders staged a 17-kilometer solidarity walk before dawn on Saturday, starting from the Visayas State University–Tolosa campus and ending at the MacArthur Memorial Landing Park in Candahug, Palo, both situated along Leyte Gulf.

The protest formed part of the “Aton an Kinse” campaign, which arose following a 2024 Supreme Court ruling that allowed commercial fishing within the 15-kilometer municipal waters, reversing long-standing protections granted to small-scale fisherfolk under the Fisheries Code.

In its decision, the Supreme Court upheld a Malabon Regional Trial Court ruling in the Mercidar Fishing case, which declared certain provisions of the Fisheries Code unconstitutional due to technical lapses by the Department of Agriculture and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources.

The Mercidar case questioned the constitutionality of granting exclusive rights to municipal fisherfolk within municipal waters, a protection provided under the Fisheries Code as amended by Republic Act No. 10654.

During the rally, participants urged local government units, particularly deputized Bantay Dagat units, to intensify patrols to prevent commercial fishing boats from entering municipal waters and competing with marginal fisherfolk for limited marine resources.

Prof. Clement Camposano, chancellor of the University of the Philippines Visayas and senior campaign manager of Oceana, called on local officials to assert their mandate in protecting municipal fishing grounds.

“The protection of municipal waters of Leyte is very important not only for the registered 66,668 registered municipal fisherfolk but to everyone who earns and benefits from fish and seafood products,” Camposano said.

He added that several areas in Leyte’s municipal waters are also designated for tourism and require protection from further overexploitation and overfishing.

“Continue to seek the help of other agencies, particularly the BFAR through the Fisheries Management Areas mechanisms to implement science-based enforcement and management plan to protect their marine and fisheries resources,” Camposano said.