DAVAO CITY—The proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) does not seek to ban commercial fishing vessels from General Santos City and areas in Western Mindanao from fishing in the territorial waters off the future Bangsamoro entity, the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (Opapp) said.
But Opapp Undersecretary Jose Lorena said in a media statement on Thursday that while commercial fishing vessels would be allowed to operate within the proposed Bangsamoro waters, they would be subject to regulations of the future Bangsamoro regional government and respective local governments.
Earlier, tuna fishing operators in General Santos City and sardine operators in the Zamboanga Peninsula raised concern on the definition of the Bangsamoro waters under the proposed BBL.
They said they were uncertain if they would be allowed to fish within the additional 7 kilometers of the Bangsamoro waters.
But Lorena said that while preferential rights would be given to the Bangsamoro people, other indigenous peoples in adjoining provinces and resident fishers in the Bangsamoro area over fishery, aquamarine and other living resources in the Zones of Joint Cooperation, as provided for in the Constitution, “these waters, being part of the territorial waters of the Philippines, remain to be a resource for all Filipinos.”
He said fishing groups from outside the future entity “simply have to secure an operating permit from the Bangsamoro region on top of other requirements.”
“Just like they would do to comply with similar regulations,” he added.
The proposed BBL, or House Bill No. 4994, prescribes that the Bangsamoro waters shall extend up to 22.224 km (12 nautical miles) from the low-water mark of the coasts that are part of the proposed Bangsamoro region.
Lorena said this meant that municipal waters, which extend up to 15 km from the coasts, plus an additional of 7.224 km, comprise the Bangsamoro waters. He said this was aimed at creating a “buffer area” for sustenance fishers.
“This is a balance to protect all fishermen and to give them equal opportunity to earn their keep, whether they are commercial or sustenance fishermen. This is not a unilateral decision. This is a product of negotiations,” he said in a media statement. Allan Nawal, Inquirer Mindanao