PEJC, ABCollege visit the Olingan fisherfolk community

January 22, 2022 – PEJC visited the fishing community partner of the Andres Bonifacio College – School of Law Green Legal Clinic. The fisherfolk association, headed by Ms. Winnie, shared that one of the most pressing problems of the community is the intrusion of commercial fishing vessels within the municipal waters. This has seriously affected the livelihood of many subsistence fishers in the area and many of the members of their association since this resulted in overfishing and a subsequent decline of the amount of fishes within the area.

The 1987 Constitution (section 7, Article XIII) and our Fisheries Code (section 21, Republic Act No. 8550, as amended) gives priority to the subsistence fisherfolk over the use of the natural resources found in the municipal waters. These municipal waters include not only the lakes and streams found within the municipalities but also the waters measured from 15 kilometers from the coastline.

PEJC and ABCollege’s law clinic assured the community that they will take the necessary legal action to help them address this problem. ABCollege is one of several law schools PEJC is partnering with to establish specialized environmental law clinics with the goal of making environmental law and remedies more accessible to the local communities that need them the most.