It was midday in the coastal town of San Jose, Navotas. Jennifer Zamora’s family had finished hauling what they could from their mussel farms in Manila Bay despite the season being unsuitable for harvest. Two barges mounted with diggers had already destroyed neighboring farms, and Jennifer dreaded every passing day that their livelihoods may be demolished next.

The government’s urgency to “rehabilitate” Manila Bay leaves thousands of fisherfolk like Jennifer in a state of precarity. Under the guise of environmental initiatives, the state forwards its projects by dispossessing thousands of families of their livelihoods and homes. 

 

Fair Fishing

The Navotas fisherfolk have developed a symbiotic relationship with marine life by sustaining each other. However, the government imprudently views the fisherfolk’s livelihoods as an obstacle to the bay’s development.

Jennifer hails from a family of fisherfolk and was born and raised in San Jose. At 50, she continues the fishing practices of her kin, relying on catches to feed her family and pay her bills.