Casibo, Dela Pena, Iwag, Torremoro 1. What is RA 10654 about? RA 10654 was a consolidation of Senate Bill No. 2414 and House Bill No. 4536 passed last December 1, 2014. It was then lapsed into law on February 27, 2015. RA 10654 which amends RA 8550, also known as the Philippine Fisheries Code of 1998. It is “An Act to Prevent, Deter & Eliminate Illegal, Unreported & Unregulated (IUU) Fishing”. Fish is not only a cheap source of food but also a source of income not just in the Philippines but all over the world. However, the proper management, protection and conservation of these fishery resources are affected due to the widen issue on different activities involved in IUU fishing. The activities include: 1. Illegal fishing comprises not only the ones violated the national laws but also the ones fishing in foreign waters without permission or approval; 2. Unreported fishing includes the fishing activities that are unreported and misreported to the government; 3. Unregulated fishing are those activities fishing in the waters under regional fishery management organization by fishing vessels without nationality(Ramos 2017). RA 10654 talks about the concerns, problems and demands of municipal fisher folks, sustainable fishery communities, government and non-government organizations to work to end overfishing or overexploitation. This law purposes to make the enforcement stronger all over the country. Furthermore, in this law, the government assures stronger harvest control rules, reportorial requirements, vessel monitoring measures, stiffer penalties for violations, citizen’s suit, anti -strategic lawsuit against public participation (SLAPP) and other rules and regulations that help sustain the fisheries resources and make sure of food security in the long term in the country(Ramos 2017). Since there had been a big issue regarding the “open access” on the different bodies of water like seas, under RA 10654, there are already control techniques in fish harvest in which to limit the fishing efforts based on the fishing grounds status. There are different illegal fishing activities by large scale commercial fishing vessels for many years now, thus, many small-scale municipal fishers remain being the poorest in the society. However, under this law, there will be a vessel monitoring system that will tell the authorities where and when the boats fish exactly. In addition, there is an installation of a Monitoring, Control and Surveillance (MCS) system in all country’s flagged fishing vessels to make it easier to guarantee compliance with fisheries rules and regulations. There is an introduction also of technologies that can help both the government and people to monitor the fishing vessels’ behavior. This would also ensure the transparency in Philippine Fisheries management. RA 10654 was mandated by European Union (EU) as it plays an important role in the stock market. In this way, the country must be able to comply and amend with the fisheries law before trade approvals were applied(Amended Fisheries Code Sets Higher Penalties, Tightens Rules on Commercial Fishing 2015). The law could really help prevent overfishing and ensure food security in the long term, however, the government is weak in terms of strict enforcement of the law