The Senate approved on third and final reading the Blue Economy Act, embodying the sustainable utilization of Philippines’ oceanic resources for economic growth, improved livelihoods, and the health of the country’s ocean ecosystems.
Senator Loren Legarda, principal author and sponsor of Senate Bill No. 2450 or the Blue Economy Act, said blue economy transcends borders and touches the very essence of Philippines’ sustainable future as the United Nations General Assembly recognized the urgent need to protect and harness the potential of oceans and marine resources to drive sustainable development as encapsulated in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).
According to Legarda, in 2017, the World Bank unveiled a groundbreaking report, “The Potential of the Blue Economy,” highlighting the abundant opportunities lying dormant in the coastal and oceanic realms of nations that are yet to harness them fully.
“Untapped resources, such as natural gas and the Philippine Rise, a 13-million-hectare underwater plateau, have the power to transform economies and lives.”
“These untapped resources, such as natural gas and the Philippine Rise, a 13-million-hectare underwater plateau, have the power to transform economies and lives. Consider the staggering biodiversity found within the Philippines nestled in the heart of the Coral Triangle,” the veteran legislator said in her sponsorship speech.
The bill will boast marine shore-fish biodiversity that is unrivaled, offering not only tangible stocks of marine resources but also the invaluable regulating services that support coastal states outside or around the Philippines.
A significant portion of the Philippine population, 60 percent, calls the coast home, with fisherfolk representing the second highest poverty-stricken sector. This imbalance cries out for rectification. The Blue Economy, simply put, embodies the sustainable utilization of oceanic resources for economic growth, improved livelihoods, and the health of our ocean ecosystems.
“It embodies our commitment to conserve, protect, and prosper in harmony with our marine environment.”
“It embodies our commitment to conserve, protect, and prosper in harmony with our marine environment. The Blue Economy bill, a priority in the LEDAC agenda, is our solution to this pressing issue. It aims to rewrite the narrative for coastal and marine resources, elevating their status in our development plans, and ensuring that they contribute to our national economy and the realization of SDG,” the seasoned lawmaker explained.
Section 4 of the bill specifically provides scope of application: “For purposes of this Act, the Philippines shall exercise sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction, in accordance with international law, as appropriate, in internal waters, archipelagic waters, territorial sea, contiguous zone, exclusive economic zone and continent shelf, herein collectively referred to as coastal and marine zones, including its seabed and subsoil, and any and all maritime features within the Maritime Zones now known or to be known in the future.”
The bill also contained a policy development framework that aims to help the country define a roadmap to a diversified and sustainable ocean economy in a manner that provides long-term economic and social benefits while building resilience to climate change and without compromising the safety of our marine ecosystems.
The Framework objectives are to: (a) Ensure a cross-sectoral and cross-stakeholder approach, creating a value chain, supporting inclusiveness, and ensuring sustainability to make the blue economy a new engine for the country’s future economic growth; (b) Develop a common understanding of the blue economy; (c) Provide a foundation for regional actions relevant to the blue economy to maximize the economic potential of the country’s ocean and inland water resources.
