Navotas City fisherfolk under the Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya)-Navotas staged another picket on April 30 at the Navotas Regional Trial Court (RTC) as the court heard their petition. Fisherfolk and 400 mussel growers filed a petition in June 2024 to ask the court for a writ of preliminary injunction and temporary restraining order (TRO) against the demolition of their mussel farms.

Thousands of fishermen, workers, and vendors in the city lost their livelihood from the demolition of hundreds of mussel farms along the Navotas City shoreline. Demolition started on March 16, 2024, covering mussel farms covering more than six kilometers long and three kilometers wide.

Residents rejected the local government’s claim that the removal of their mussel farms and traps is mandated by the 2008 Supreme Court mandamus to clean up Manila Bay. They said the demolition is clearly for the 650-hectare Navotas Bay Reclamation Project being pushed by the local government and its partner, Argonbay Construction Company. Argonbay is a subsidiary of Ramon Ang’s San Miguel Corporation.

Pamalakaya-Navotas also highlighted in the protest the findings of a study on reclamation projects in Manila Bay discussed during the court hearing.

A study funded by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) found that urbanization and “flooding, public health risk, biodiversity loss, and fisheries decline will worsen with the urbanization that reclamation is expected to bring.”

“The DENR’s own study clearly shows what fisherfolks and environmental defenders have been saying all along, that reclamation causes widespread flooding, endangers public health, destroys marine biodiversity, and decreases fish catch,” Pamalakaya-Navotas’ Romel Escarial stated.

He said, “in Navotas, we are already living with these consequences—and worse, our tahungan (mussel farms) have been demolished for a reclamation project that only benefits big business.”

Fisherfolk called for a stop to all reclamation projects in Manila Bay, the restoration of their right to livelihood, and compensation for owners of demolished mussel farms.

The Navotas Bay Reclamation Project is one of 21 reclamation projects around Manila Bay. Among these, two are currently in operation, 12 have been approved, and seven are still being proposed.