TACLOBAN CITY — Opposition is growing against the Tacloban City government’s plan to demolish dozens of houses and other structures along the shoreline of Fisherman’s Village, with affected fisherfolk insisting they should be allowed to remain near their traditional fishing grounds.

The city government said the clearing operation is intended to protect the remaining marine resources of Cancabato Bay by removing structures within its marine protected area.

The city has mobilized its Fishery Law Enforcement Team to implement the demolition, with affected residents receiving three written notices since May.

Residents, however, believe the planned demolition is linked to the near completion of the new Daniel Z. Romualdez Airport terminal building and the ongoing multibillion-peso Tacloban Causeway Project.

They fear their homes are being considered an eyesore because they will become more visible to visitors once the airport terminal and causeway are completed.

The new DZR Airport terminal is targeted to become operational by December.

Cancabato Bay was declared a marine protected and fishery reservation area under a city ordinance enacted in 2003.

In 2023, as construction of the new airport terminal and causeway progressed, the City Council passed another ordinance prohibiting illegal structures, including houses, within the Marine Protected Area of Cancabato Bay. Residents were given until 31 August 2026 to vacate.

The community was devastated by Super Typhoon Yolanda in 2013. Although affected residents were provided houses at a permanent relocation site more than 20 kilometers away, some returned to Fisherman’s Village to remain close to their fishing grounds.

Losanto Castillo, president of the Tacloban Fisherfolks Urban Association, said residents are reluctant to leave because fishing is their primary source of livelihood.

Castillo said residents rebuilt houses after Yolanda because they could not afford the daily transportation costs between the relocation site and the fishing community.

“If constructing houses here is not allowed, they should have told us from the start,” he said.

The residents gained an ally in the City Council this week after Councilor Jerry Uy called for a halt to the demolition in a privilege speech.

Uy said affected residents may be covered by an exemption under the ordinance being used as the basis for the clearing operation.

He said that while the ordinance creating the marine protected area prohibits houses and similar structures, it expressly exempts existing houses built before 2003.

Uy added that when the structures were destroyed by Yolanda, fisherfolk rebuilt them because they needed places to rest and store their fishing nets, tools and equipment.

“These are not luxury houses or commercial establishments. They are part of the fisherfolk’s means of livelihood,” Uy said.

Fisherfolk question conservation rationale

Residents also questioned the city government’s environmental justification for the demolition, arguing that major infrastructure and reclamation projects pose a greater threat to Cancabato Bay.

They cited the Tacloban Causeway Project and an ongoing reclamation project near the headquarters of Tingog Party-list, claiming fish catches have declined since the projects began and portions of seagrass beds were covered with soil.

The fisherfolk also pointed to a recent fish kill in which dead fish were reportedly found along the shoreline near the reclamation area.

Residents maintained that the proximity of Fisherman’s Village to the nearly completed DZR Airport terminal is a major factor behind the planned demolition.

“The city wants to hide behind this so-called marine conservation the real reason they want us unseen. Our presence is a reminder of a prevalent poverty in the city and the whole Eastern Visayas,” one fisherman said.