Phl to US: Remove ship now

MANILA, Philippines - The government wants the US Navy minesweeper stuck in the Tubbataha Reef in the Sulu Sea extricated immediately and sanctions for possible violation of environmental and maritime laws enforced swiftly after an investigation.

The warship ran aground at the marine protected Tubbataha Reef before dawn Thursday while en route to Puerto Princesa City in Palawan after refueling at the former US naval base in Subic in Zambales.

The 68-meter USS Guardian had reportedly moved deeper into coral reefs after being pushed by strong waves. Officials who declined to be named said it would be more difficult to remove the ship from the reefs in its new position.

“As we all know, that is World Heritage site that cannot be easily visited. It’s a highly protected area,” deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said over the state-run radio dzRB yesterday.

“We have to find out what the circumstances are. As I mentioned (Friday), the primary concern is extricating the ship out of the reef with minimal damage. So we have yet to see the extent (of the damage) until that (USS Guardian) is extricated and divers are able to check what will hopefully be very minimal damage,” Valte said.

The Tubbataha Reef is one of the country’s five World Heritage Sites.

Valte said the Department of Foreign Affairs would be conducting “its own investigation on how the USS Guardian ended up somewhere along the Tubbataha Reef.”

Valte said the initial report that 10 meters of corals had been damaged was just an estimate. She said the government would check the full extent of the damage and enforce the laws after recommendations from investigators.

“There are laws that we have to implement because it is a World Heritage site. We will see first what the investigation of the concerned agencies will yield and then, what their recommendations will be. And then, we move forward with the guidance of what the law provides,” Valte said.

The government imposes a fine of about $300 per square meter (yard) of damaged coral. In 2005, the environmental group Greenpeace was fined almost $7,000 after its flagship struck a reef in the same area. 

In a statement, Palawan Gov. Baham Mitra said the country’s strict environmental laws should apply even to allies like the US.

“The US is our ally but the strict law on environmental protection should be applied equally to all,” he said. “We hope that henceforth, no additional damage will be done to the reefs and for the US to take the ship out the soonest to end the disturbance and the marine life can return to normal.”

‘American territory’

Tubbataha Park Superintendent Angelique Songco voiced her dismay at the US Navy’s being able to send ships to the marine protected area.

“Why the Americans managed to create their own territory within Tubbataha Reef which is in Philippine waters, and even declared it off limits to Philippine authorities,” she said in a report to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) central office and to the Office of Palawan governor.

“Marine park rangers reported that they called USS Guardian through radio, introduced themselves as law enforcers, informed them of their violations and that they will board the vessel.

“Before reaching the vessel, however, the rangers saw soldiers on board the ship taking position with their weapons. Radio contact was unanswered. The boarding protocol was therefore not conducted,” she said.

“Though communication is now improving between all the parties concerned, we hope that this issue can be seriously looked into as we maintain that the marine park rangers from the beginning should have been recognized since they were the ones immediately present in the area when the incident occurred,” she stressed.

She also pointed out current maps of the National

Mapping Resource and Information Authority indicate that the park is a “no navigation” area. “With all its modern navigational equipment, it boggles the mind how USS Guardian ended up on the reef,” she said.

She said “their rangers discovered the vessel only through radar as the crew did not communicate their presence to the park staff.”

Director Mundita Lim of the DENR’s Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau (PAWB) expressed fears that delay in the removal of the vessel could cause further damage to the reef.

Lim likewise said that the PASu’s report noted, “the bad weather, big waves have been pushing the ship further to the ground thus, causing more damage to the corals and affecting other marine species in the area.”

“We hope that the vessel can be removed as soon as possible with the least damage to the coral reefs,” Lim stressed.

She said talks are now ongoing among concerned officials as to how to remove the ship from the site.

“Definitely, there will be physical difficulty but we hope that given the modern technology, some fine strategy can be adopted so the vessel can be pulled out with care as soon as possible,” Lim added.

The PAWB chief likewise said that once the area is cleared of the ship, they can already come up with an accurate amount of fines to be imposed on the US Navy.

Tubbataha covers an area of 130,028 hectares.

The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)-Philippines, for its part, is calling on the US Navy to coordinate directly with the government’s Tubbataha Management Office in its operations to remove the ship.

“The extent of the damage to the reef must be determined. Furthermore, the swift, safe and proper extrication of the vessel, should cause no further damage to the park. This must be done without delay,” the group said.

“As we face a climate defined future, and less predictable seas, there is the urgent need to declare Tubbataha Reef a Particularly Sensitive Area so that there is strict control of international maritime activities in its waters,” the group said in a statement posted in its website.

“This (Tubbataha Reefs) is not merely a tourism site. The issue here is food. The provinces that ring Sulu Sea are at risk,” it said.

Sen. Loren Legarda, for her part, aired her concern over what she called a “troubling pattern of environmental assault” by American owned or contracted vessels on Philippine territorial waters.

“Our Visiting Forces Agreement  (VFA) and other treaties with the United States government is not a free pass so US ships and military personnel can do as they wish in our country, including the destruction of the environment and protected sites in our country,” Legarda said.

Legarda, the chairperson of the Legislative Oversight Committee on the VFA (LOVFA) said that the VFACOM and the Philippine Coast Guard should immediately explain how the USS Guardian was allowed to venture into the Tubbataha Reef.

“The VFACOM is tasked to monitor, in coordination with appropriate government agencies and NGOs, the activities of foreign military and civilian personnel. What kind of coordination was carried out when officials on board the USS Guardian refused to respond to the radio calls made by Philippine authorities who were investigating their presence in our protected area?” Legarda said.

“This incident behooves me to ask if our so-called military allies are even aware of the laws that they have to respect and observe while they are in our country,” Legarda said. – With Rhodina Villanueva, Marvin Sy