UP professor calls for Tañon preservation

Tañon Strait is a share resource so the 41 towns along its coasts should cooperate in managing it, said an associate professor of the University of the Philippines-Diliman Institute of Environment Science and Meteorology in the drive for the preservation of the water body between Cebu and Negros Oriental islands.

The institute’s Lemnuel V. Aragones, PhD, said that in accordance with the law on National Integrated Protected Area System, commercial fishing is prohibited in the entire Tañon basin but there have been some lapses on this matter among the local governments along the coastline.

The institute, in coordination with the Save Save Tañon Strait Citizen’s Movement, Coastal Conservation and Education Foundation, and the local government of Bais City, expressed disappointment over the continuing commercial fishing in the protected area of Tañon.

Some local governments have allowed commercial fishing to continue, said Aragones, mentioning Tanjay City and Manhuyod town in Negros Oriental as among the LGUs that have failed to stop the onslaught.

Aragones, together with the citizens’ movement and coastal conservation groups, has been working together with other non–government organizations in preserving Tañon Strait, particularly in protecting the dolphins, whales, and other marine life in the area.

“We have to understand that there are other organisms that co-exist with us humans,” he said, adding that the strait could even be a major destination for tourists who would like to experience the joy and excitement of seeing dolphins and whales playing in their habitat. — Jessica Ann Pareja, UP Masscomm Intern