President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. will support another attempt to push the Blue Economy Act, designed to help protect the country’s coastal and marine ecosystems and resources.
“Sa lahat po ng ikagaganda ng ating environment, sa ating ikaaangat po ng taumbayan, mga mangingisda po, hindi po ito tututulan ng Pangulo,” Presidential Communications Office Undersecretary and Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said in a press briefing on Thursday.
Senators Loren Legarda and Risa Hontiveros refiled the proposal to pass into law the Blue Economy Act, which seeks to promote stewardship and sustainable development of coastal and marine ecosystems and resources.
“This bill will use our rich marine resources to drive inclusive economic growth, but it does so while protecting the environment and strengthening our coastal communities’ resilience,” said Legarda, who was the principal author of the measure in the Senate.
Legarda emphasized the urgency of climate action in the country, as climate change could cost the Philippines significant losses in life and in the economy.
Hontiveros, for her part, said the Blue Economy Bill is not just about the West Philippine Sea. “It’s also about the rights and welfare of our fisherfolk and the health of our marine ecosystems. So yes, hopefully, that’s one of the many important things the President will mention in his Sona (State of the Nation Address),” she said.
In August 2024, the Senate approved on third and final reading Senate Bill No. 2450 or “An Act establishing a framework for Blue Economy. The bill was approved by the House of Representatives on its third and final reading during the 19th Congress, but both houses of Congress failed to ratify a reconciled version of the measure.
The senators tagged the Blue Economy bill as a landmark legislation that commits the Philippines to harnessing its vast ocean resources for jobs, growth, and long-term marine protection. It aligns the country with global efforts to safeguard and sustainably use the seas.
The measure adopts a blue economy framework, making marine wealth a pillar of the national economy and patrimony, and affirms Philippine maritime rights under international law, among others.
The proposal also mandates a whole-of-nation, integrated approach that links government, academia, civil society, indigenous peoples, local communities, and the private sector in governing and conserving the country’s ocean domain. | PND
