Determination of Stakeholders' Perspectives on Manila Bay Coastal Resource Management (MB-CRM) for Selected Areas of Navotas and Malabon City, Metro Manila

Abstract

The study attempted to answer the following objectives: (1) What is the status of the coastal resource utilization for Manila Bay and the Coastal Resource Management (CRM) implemented in some coastal communities of Navotas and Malabon, Metro Manila? (2) Are the relevant laws and policies pertaining to the management of coastal resources helpful to alleviate their conditions? and (3) What would be an appropriate CRM framework for the coastal communities? Dynamite fishing, coastal pollution, extortion and indiscriminate arrest by some coastal officers of the local fisherfolks, illegal entry of commercial vessels to the municipal coastal shores and non-implementation of Solid Waste Management (SWM) were cited as the central concerns of some of the immediate stakeholders of the municipal coastal waters of Navotas and Malabon City. The immediate stakeholders represent the fishery sector that covers the coastal fisheries, offshore fisheries and support industries from the two coastal municipalities. These included: owner of the motorized boat used for open fishing; owners/operators of fish cages (propitario); owner/operator of mussel farm (tahongan); hired fishermen as workers on fish cages; hired fishermen as workers in mussel farm; fish mender (naghahayuma); fisherfolks involved in open fishing and local fish vendors. Other stakeholders included hired workers in the fishport (batilyo/borador); hired carpenters in the fishyard (baradero) and workers in fish cannery from the support industries. The local government of the two municipalities and the national government agencies involved in the implementation of MB-CRM shared almost the same perspectives with the immediate stakeholders on the current situation of the coastal resources of Manila Bay. They identified dynamite fishing and water pollution as significant problems of the coastal waters of Manila Bay. The Fisheries Code and the Local Government Code failed to address the complexities of the multiple conflicts in the utilization of coastal resources for both municipalities. However, the Manila Bay Coastal Strategy remained less reactive to the current situational conflicts of the Bay due to the absence of specific management strategies to address the prevailing problems that affect the coastal resources and their beneficiaries from the fishery sector. Hence, the proposed CRM framework must be institutionalized through appropriate and sustainable operations of the coastal strategy that should be geared towards the adoption of an operational mechanism that recognizes the essential issues on the coastal resource conflicts. The implementation of the coastal strategy must prioritize the following activities that would be appropriate in the current situation of the coastal resource conflicts of the Bay to provide immediate resolution to such problems. These include defining the roles of all stakeholders, pursuing environmental risk assessment, rehabilitation and protection of coastal resources, intensification of the implementation of the policy on territorial use rights in fisheries, enforcement of laws, provision of financial and technical support to the local fisherfolks, monitoring the implementation of coastal strategy and development of Information, Education and Communication (IEC) activities.