Palace urged to disclose details of salvage plan on US ship

MANILA, Philippines - The Anakpawis party-list and the Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) urged Malacañang to disclose the details of the US government’s salvage plan on the minesweeper USS Guardian, which ran aground off Tubbataha Reef last Jan. 17.

“The Filipino public wants to know how the US government would clean their mess in Tubbataha. It is the duty of the Philippine government to explain why the salvage plan is okay and it should also disclose the details of the salvage operations,” said Anakpawis vice chairman Fernando Hicap in a press statement on Saturday.

Hicap said the plan was only presented to a few people in the government and not to affected sectors like the fisherfolk and concerned groups like marine scientists and environmental experts.

Hicap, Salvador France, vice chair of Pamalakaya, and Pedro Gonzalez of Pamalakaya-Southern Tagalog, delivered a letter of complaint to the Department of Justice (DOJ) last week.

The group asked the DOJ to file criminal and other appropriate charges against the US Navy officials and the 79-member crew of the minesweeper.

The Tubbataha Protected Area Management Board and the Palawan provincial government last week approved the proposed plan presented by the US Navy on the salvaging operations of the USS Guardian.

Commodore Enrico Efren Evangelista, Coast Guard Palawan District Commander and chief of Task Force Tubbataha, said concerned groups had agreed on the proposed chopping of the US Navy vessel into pieces before it is finally removed to minimize further damage on the reef.

France said that the US government and the Philippine Coast Guard have yet to approve the request of the Tubbataha Protected Area Management Board to have two representatives as observers on board the SMIT Borneo, the salvaging ship contracted by the US Navy from Singapore.

He said he learned that another condition raised by the Environmental Management Board before finally agreeing to the plan is that if ever the salvor plans to use container barriers and nets, it should not be entangled in any marine species since it can harm other marine life like sea tortoises and other big species of fish.

France said the damage created by the grounding on Tubbataha will have a negative impact on fish production and livelihood of not less than 100,000 fisherfolk and fish workers in commercial fishing vessels in the West Palawan Sea and Sulu-Celebes Sea and adjacent fishing waters in the Visayas and Mindanao.

Meanwhile, the Divers Club of the University of the Philippines has strongly condemned the destruction of healthy living corals at the Tubbataha Reef.

“This incident was caused by the blatant act of disregard for the environment. Had the involved party responsibly checked and surveyed the route that they took, no reefs would have been unjustly damaged. No words of apology can revive this ruined haven,” the diving group said in a statement.

The divers called on the government to punish those responsible for the destruction.

The Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park located at the Central Sulu Sea is cited as one of the most biologically diverse and one of the most remarkable coral reefs on the planet.

It is a home to 600 species of fish, 360 species of corals, 11 species of sharks, 13 species of dolphins and whales, 100 species of birds and sea turtles. It is a marine sanctuary designated as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

“The Tubbataha Reef is a World Heritage Site for a reason. It is a place of beauty, of nature, of life. By destroying even a bit of the reefs, life forms are destroyed. These lives take more time than humans to mature and to develop. These invaluable life forms have no ability to protect their own shelter; they need us to take care of them,” the divers said.