Budget Funding Manifestations

Maritime and fisheries proposals: Representative Emigdio P. Tanjuatco III urged sustained national investment in marine science, research vessels and laboratories, fisherfolk support, ports, fisheries enforcement and broader maritime capability. In his interpellation, Representative Rufus B. Rodriguez described a bill approved by committee to create a Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, with a dedicated budget for regulation and responses to coastal degradation, seabed quarrying, illegal fishing, El Niño and commercial intrusion. Rodriguez invited Tanjuatco to become a leading sponsor; Tanjuatco said he would consider it an honor.

Balangiga memorial proposal: Representative Rufus B. Rodriguez proposed seeking support under the Department of Tourism (DOT) budget for a Philippine-American War Memorial in Balangiga, Eastern Samar. He asked Representative Christopher Sheen P. Gonzales to pursue architectural plans; Gonzales agreed. Rodriguez offered to support the project and work with the committee chair after its budget requirement was determined. The funding request remained subject to project costing.

DENR biodiversity and Tamaraw conservation: For nationwide biodiversity conservation under the Philippine Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (PBSAP) 2024-2040, Representative Brian Poe cited an estimated annual funding requirement of 92.8 billion. He contrasted this with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Biodiversity Management Bureau (BMB) budget of 308 million for FY2026. Currency was not stated for either amount. The nationwide annual need and the bureau budget cover different scopes. Poe urged practical legislative and budget support for biodiversity conservation and the Tamaraw Conservation Management Action Plan (TOMAP).

Rep. Emigdio P. Tanjuatco III privilege speech: Representative Emigdio P. Tanjuatco III called for sustained national investment in marine science, including more researchers, research vessels and laboratories, and funding for ocean mapping, hydrographic surveys, marine research and bioprospecting. He linked the shortage of vessels, laboratories, grants and local opportunities to young scientists leaving. He urged that fisherfolk and coastal communities be central to maritime governance, with safe fishing, enforcement against illegal fishing, cold storage, ports, financing, technology, markets and rescue support. He also called for stronger Philippine Navy and Philippine Coast Guard vessels, surveillance, communications, infrastructure, personnel and logistics, alongside shipbuilding and repair, inter-island transport, search and rescue, fisheries enforcement, environmental protection, hydrographic capability, disaster response and maritime domain awareness.

Tanjuatco linked maritime governance to the livelihoods and food security of coastal communities. The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) recorded approximately 2.6 million registered fisherfolk in 2024; its latest profile cited in the speech put 27.4% of fisherfolk below the poverty line in 2023. Philippine fisheries production was approximately 3.96 million metric tons in 2025, down 2.5% from 2024, while marine municipal fisheries production fell 6.7%. Tanjuatco connected these declines to smaller catches, higher costs and greater vulnerability for fishing communities, and to fish prices, import dependence and food costs for poorer households.

Tanjuatco urged the House to translate maritime awareness into legislation, appropriations, oversight, science, ships and ports, fisherfolk opportunities, sustainable industries, education and a long-term national maritime strategy. He closed by arguing that the sea is integral to the country’s food, commerce, communities, climate, history and future.

Rep. Rufus B. Rodriguez: Representative Rufus B. Rodriguez asked Representative Emigdio P. Tanjuatco III to confirm the scale of the fisherfolk sector. Tanjuatco agreed with Rodriguez’s figure of 2.6 million fisherfolk. Rodriguez connected that population, alongside 7–9 million farmers, to the Department of Agriculture (DA) budget discussion and described fisherfolk as a backbone of food security; Tanjuatco called them a major backbone of the economy in a marine and archipelagic country.

Asked about poverty among fisherfolk, Tanjuatco cited 27.4% below the poverty line as of 2023. Rodriguez offered what he described as a later figure, settling on 30.4% after correcting himself. He characterized this as nearly one-third and asked Tanjuatco to identify major threats. Tanjuatco named insecurity from other countries’ intrusions, especially China; declining fish supply as intrusions damage coral reefs; and uncertainty about fisherfolk’s future.

Rodriguez argued that commercial fleets entering the 15-kilometer municipal-water zone undermine small-scale fishers’ access and asked Tanjuatco about the Supreme Court ruling he described as making their rights preferential rather than exclusive. Tanjuatco said the ruling should be revisited and reevaluated, agreeing that commercial intrusion further compromises fishers who already lack equipment and funding to maximize their catch. Rodriguez said he had filed a bill to make fishing rights in municipal waters exclusive for local fisherfolk and asked Tanjuatco to co-author it. Tanjuatco said he would consider it an honor and privilege.

Rodriguez raised climate change and the approaching El Niño as threats to fish production, citing lower oxygen levels in the waters and asking for protective measures and support. Tanjuatco agreed that policy and programs should be prioritized, referring to agency predictions that the Philippines would feel the effects by the first quarter of the following year. Rodriguez also sought agreement on policies to prevent harmful coastal reclamation, seabed quarrying and illegal fishing; Tanjuatco agreed.

Rodriguez said a bill he had filed with Representative Brian Poe and that had been approved by committee would create a Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources to provide a dedicated budget for regulation, El Niño planning and protection from commercial intrusion. He invited Tanjuatco to join as a leading sponsor, and Tanjuatco said he would consider it an honor. Rodriguez thanked him for his answers and concluded the interpellation. The Speaker then referred Tanjuatco’s speech, including its interpellations or manifestations, to the Committee on Rules for appropriate action.

Rep. Rufus B. Rodriguez: Representative Rufus B. Rodriguez proposed seeking funding under the Department of Tourism (DOT) budget to begin construction of a Philippine-American War Memorial in Balangiga, Eastern Samar. He urged Representative Christopher Sheen P. Gonzales to engage a prominent architect and prepare plans, and offered to help as a Vice Chair of the Committee on Appropriations. Gonzales agreed to pursue the planning. Rodriguez said he would support the project and work with the committee chair once its budget requirement was determined. The request remained an expression of support pending project costing.

Rodriguez described the Balangiga attack as a fight for freedom against a better-armed American force. He connected the Balangiga Bells with the subsequent killings he called the Balangiga Massacre, recounting the order to “kill and burn,” the deaths of many hundreds in Eastern Samar, and the investigation of General Smith by the U.S. Congress. He argued that a memorial would preserve this history for future generations and recognize local heroes. Gonzales added that the church, warning bell and site had also been burned by American forces. Rodriguez then urged House leaders and the Appropriations Committee chair to support the memorial. Gonzales welcomed the support, said attention to Balangiga would matter to the Philippines, and noted that the countries are now friends. Rodriguez later congratulated him on the historical and educational speech.

Rep. Brian Poe privilege speech: Poe argued that the funding gap described above was a setback for fulfilling the PBSAP, and that conservation plans require practical protection and sustained budget support.

Poe also cited the Tamaraw Conservation Management Action Plan (TOMAP), which aims to increase the Tamaraw count to 2,000 by 2050, and argued that plans need practical protection and budget support.

Poe credited the Bantay Tamaraw Rangers of the Tamaraw Conservation Program (TCP) and indigenous Mangyan communities, including the Taubuid, who share ancestral domain with the Tamaraw. He said the rangers patrol up to 75,000 hectares, track dense kogon grasses, monitor genetic bottlenecks and confront armed poachers. He described the program as chronically underfunded, saying pandemic-era budget cuts harmed job security and rangers worked with broken shoes, sometimes hungry and at risk. He called the rangers themselves endangered by low pay and inadequate support.

Poe urged the DENR, legislators and the public to give the biodiversity and Tamaraw plans practical force. He noted that Dalaw Turo and information, education and communication campaigns were educating young people, and called for legislative authority and budget support. He framed animal welfare as protecting what is innately Filipino and urged action to save the Tamaraw and Mindoro forest for future generations.