The mepet define the reserved areas including the “no-go” zones or “panyaan” as well as the open access resource utilization areas in the ancestral waters. The panyaan are marine areas, which are traditionally avoided by Tagbanwa because of a belief that certain areas are sensitive or remain under the influence of an unseen, spirit world. The direct counterpart of the panyaan on land are the amlaran which are also areas that are known to be inhabited by spirits which can wrought potential harm to human beings, such as to cause sickness and the like. The amlaran are separate from the awuyuk or sacred lakes in Coron, which are also believed to be inhabited by spirits in the form of giant octopuses and ergo, are only used following strict observances, such as limiting one’s speech or using an entirely separate language used only in the awuyuks. These reserved areas are not coincidentally ecologically intact and sensitive areas. The awuyuks for example are part of Coron Island’s precious watershed and shelter the swiftlet caves, which are so valuable to the Tagbanwa income. The panyaan too are areas, which remain pristine and not a few, are adjacent to fish hatcheries or sanctuaries. Objectives and Scope This case study aims to contextualize the issues identified in the Scoping Paper on VGSSF and the Philippine Policies and Laws on Fisheries, as well as offer local-level recommendations to the issues. These issues highlighted in the case also reflect a number of concerns raised by fisherfolk organizations and CSOs in various policy dialogues. This paper focuses on the Calamian Tagbanwa and their initiative to map their ancestral lands and waters as part of a strategy to secure or regain tenure and assert their resource rights within their ancestral domain. In 1997, the Tagbanwa communities initiated mapping activities to facilitate the selfdelineation of their ancestral domains and to file claims over the land and waters. Under the principle of self-determination, ICCs/IPs shall define the boundaries and coverage of their ancestral domains, which may include terrestrial as well as aquatic resources. Furthermore, they have the right to formulate their own sustainable development and management plans for the land and natural resources within their ancestral domains based on their indigenous knowledge and practices. As the IP communities become stewards of the island, they are now the managers of the eco-tourism in the area. Area and Focus of the Study The study discusses the ancestral waters of the Calamian Tagbanwa of Northern Palawan. From the point of view of ethno-linguistics, there are three groups of Tagbanwa geographically distinguished as northern, central and southern. In the technical literature, the northern group is referred to as the Calamian Tagbanwa who inhabit various islands in the Calamian and Linapacan groups and areas in the northern part of the main island of Palawan. The central group inhabit an area further south on the mainland in the vicinity of Roxas and are sometimes referred to as Silanganen. Lastly, the southernmost 6