42 without offshore islands336. But there are ongoing discussions regarding the crafting of guidelines for the delineation of municipalities with offshore islands. The DILG has also recommended that DA-BFAR revisit DAO-17 and its provisions in crafting a comprehensive guideline for all municipalities with municipal waters. 337 It is worth noting that the guidelines on delineating the municipal waters with offshore islands would be beneficial for LGUs to begin the process. b. Boundary disputes between municipalities have also been observed through the consultations, and it is one of the issues that slowed down the process of delineation. Participants recommend the implementation of Common Fishery Management Areas to allow municipal fisherfolk to continue to fish in areas with overlapping municipality jurisdiction. In this way, artisanal fisherfolk will have more access to marine resources while limiting their intrusion into other municipalities, where they would be penalized for illegal entry and non-registration. c. The NCIP has called for the respect of indigenous peoples' rights over ancestral waters that overlap boundaries with municipal waters. NAPC shared that they have created a TWG that aims to provide a platform for the cooperation and convergence of government instrumentalities that ensures the preferential rights of artisanal fisherfolks and indigenous fisherfolk over coastal and fisheries resources. The TWG also seeks to facilitate harmonizing plans and programs of various government agencies and LGUs on the use of municipal and ancestral waters. NAMRIA revealed that their efforts on municipal water delineation have been limited due to the imposition of community quarantines because of the COVID-19 pandemic. They were not able to do coastal validation and face-to-face orientations; thus, meetings with concerned LGUs were done through online video conferencing platforms. 2. The FGDs reveal that artisanal fisherfolk viewed RA No. 8550 as good law. The law was supposed to arrest the increase of IUU fishing and the intrusion of commercial fishing vessels in municipal waters in the early 90s. However, both activities continue unabated and have contributed to declining fish stocks and decreased catch volume of artisanal fisherfolk in municipal waters. Poor implementation and the lack of political will of the chief executive have contributed to the weak law enforcement. a. Before the enactment of RA No. 8550, the participants report an average catch of 10-15 kilograms daily. With the rise of IUU fishing in the early 90s, this decreased to around 5 kilograms. At the start of the implementation of the Fisheries Code, it increased back to 10-15 kilograms, but receded back to 5 kilograms daily as the implementation was not sustained. b. Section 124 of RA No. 8550 allowed the designation of competent individuals, who have undergone training in law enforcement as deputy fish wardens. However, it was disclosed in the consultations that some municipalities are unable to implement the provision due to poor budget allocations. The PNP-MG alluded to the difficulty in policing municipal waters due to the sheer size of water territory in the country.338 They have also turned to recruiting force multipliers to help them police territorial waters for illegal activities. 339 This highlights the importance of fish wardens to protect and enforce laws in municipal waters. c. A complaint emerged in the consultation that when fish wardens report illegal fishers or commercial vessels entering municipal waters, they are charged with piracy for boarding the erring vessels. As a remedy, the PNP-MG averred that under the new amendments to RA No. 8550, fish wardens could use the Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation (SLAPP)340 provision as a defense. SLAPP is a defense available against the prosecution of law enforcers 336 Presentation of UP-IMLOs, supra note 40 337 NAMRIA, Consultation with NGAS, supra note 40 338 PNP-MG, Consultation with NGAS, supra note 40 339 Ibid. 340 Sec. 139 of RA No. 10654, supra note 13