Plunder

The underwater photos released by our Coast Guard showing crushed corals around the Rozul Reef and Escoda Shoal are shuddering. Obviously, the corals did not commit mass suicide. They were systematically destroyed.

As a result, the Coast Guard observed in their report, the two areas “appear lifeless, with minimal to no signs of life.” Marine life need the corals to thrive.

The two areas, well within the Philippines’ Exclusive Economic Zone, had seen scores of Chinese marine militia vessels loitering around for months. There are no other suspects for the destruction of the corals that will take hundreds, maybe thousands, of years to grow back.

The photos suggest the coral formations were crushed mechanically. This is likely the first step towards building artificial islands in the area.

Without the corals, there will be nothing to fish in these areas. That will add to the depletion of our marine harvest. It will, over time, deplete biodiversity in what has been called the Coral Triangle that includes the famous Tubbataha Reef.

A 2019 study by an oceanographer at the UP Marine Science Institute estimated that the Philippines was losing around P33.1 billion yearly due to China’s reclamation activities in the West Philippine Sea. In the light of the Coast Guard’s new findings, that amount will have to be dramatically revised upwards.

What recourse do we have in the face of such blatant plunder of our natural resources?

The destruction of coral formations by Chinese fleets is happening on an industrial scale. The activity is obviously illegal under the terms of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). There is a tribunal set up precisely to adjudicate conflicts over the application of the Convention.

The Philippines will file a complaint at this tribunal. But whatever the tribunal rules will, of course, be ignored by Beijing. Chinese diplomacy, of late, has been in the business of losing friends.

Our DFA is in the process of preparing a formal protest over the destructive activities of China’s maritime militia. That will merely add to the hundreds of protest notes we have filed over Beijing’s blatant and destructive expansionist activities in the South China Sea. China has treated such protests with absolute disdain.

Tonight, the Chinese embassy will be hosting a reception at a plush hotel at the Global City to mark its national day. I will be boycotting that event. That is the least I can do as a self-respecting Filipino citizen.

Quarrying

In the case of Filipinos plundering our natural resources, at least we have some recourse.

Members of Task Force Sagip Kalikasan filed a complaint against San Fernando, Camarines Sur Mayor Fermin Mabulo for illegal quarrying. Hundreds of millions of pesos have been made from these quarrying activities undertaken in clear violation of Philippine laws. Included in the complaint are five barangay chairmen in the areas where the illegal quarrying of sand is happening.

The quarrying was done with neither an authority or license from the Mines and Geosciences Bureau of the DENR nor any permit from the provincial government. There is no record of any taxes paid by the accused for their earnings from the quarrying.

According to the complainants, based on the 10 percent tax rate prescribed by the Internal Revenue Code, Mabulo and his group evaded paying local taxes in the amount of P54 million. That is a tenth of the value of sand estimated to have been quarried. This particular enterprise is happening on a major scale.

In April 2021, the DENR-V regional director ordered an “immediate stoppage of quarrying operations” in the San Fernando barangays. Two cease and desist orders were issued in 2019 and 2021to stop the quarrying activities. The mayor did nothing to enforce those orders. They were treated much like Beijing treated our diplomatic protests.

In addition, the complainants believe that equipment belonging to the local government have been used for the illegal quarrying activities. This compounds the misdeed.

The mayor’s wife Michelle claims that the enterprise she manages had been paying municipal taxes for every truck leaving the quarry site. A certification issued by the Camarines Sur provincial treasury, however, states that there was no record of any such payments by Michelle Mabulo or her daughter Louise or by the family-owned firm LDGM Construction and Supply Corporation.

The complainants are asking the ombudsman to immediately issue a suspension order against Mayor Mabulo and the five barangay chairmen. This will ensure an immediate halt to the destructive quarrying activities in the town and clear the way for an exhaustive investigation into allegations of graft. According to Section 9 Rule III of the Office of the Ombudsman, respondents to a complaint may be summarily suspended for six months if evidence against them is deemed to be strong. Under the provisions of the Mining Act of 1995, those responsible for the quarrying could be liable for “theft of minerals.” At the very least, the local officials could be held liable for gross neglect for their inaction.

The complainants have precedence on their side.

In a decision last August, the ombudsman dismissed Mayor Teddy Tumang of Mexico, Pampanga for “grave misconduct” over the purchase of construction materials. Last June, Ombudsman Samuel Martires suspended Mayor Abundio Punsalan Jr. of San Simon, Pampanga for “simple neglect of duty” for the reclassification of a parcel of agricultural land without official deliberation.

We will see how the ombudsman responds to the Camarines Sur quarrying case.