Chinese Incursion A Disaster To West Philippine Sea

by: desertknightfm- Rhojel

A Long Reef Exposed at Low Tide or Tubbataha

Tubbataha is a combine words tubba and taha which together means " a long reef exposed at low tide" this words originated from people of Samal, Davao del Norte. Samal people have a nomadic lifestyle where in they visit the reef from time to time. Cagayancillo people called this reef  "Gusong" and they are their frequent visitors, they used pangko a native vessel for sailing and fishing on the said reef for a living.

The United Nations Organization for Education, Science, and Culture or UNESCO declared the Tubbataha Reef National Park as a World Heritage Site because of its atoll reef with a very high density of marine species, pristine coral reef with a spectacular 100-m perpindicular wall, extensive lagoons and two coral island. On its north part of an islet is where marine turtles and different migratory birds nest. In 1999, Ramsar listed Tubbataha as one of the Wetlands of International Importance. In 2008, the reef was nominated at the New 7 Wonders of Nature but lost.

Preservation

Tubbataha reef is located in the middle part of Sulu sea, far from populated islands and there is no freshwater in its two islets and this are the reasons why dwelling is inconceivable. Because of  this condition the reef marine resources is protected from over-exploitation over the centuries.

In the 1980s, Fish had declined because of overfishing due to motorized bangkas and later became a fishing destination because of its plethoric marine life. Illegal fishing like cyanide and dynamite fishing became a common practice in order to maximize their catch. Because of this incidents environmentalists and Scuba divers crusaded to make the reefs a national marine park.

August 11, 1988, President Cory Aquino signed Proclamation no. 306 establishing the two Tubbataha Reefs as a national marine park through the effort of the Provincial Government of Palawan. The said national marine park have an area of 332 square kilometres (82, 000 acres) and the first in the history of the Philippine that a marine area was declared as a national park.

On August 23, 2006, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo signed Proclamation No. 1126 which include the Jessie Beazley Reef resulting to an increased boundaries of the park by 200% to 970.30 square kilometres (239, 770 acres). The national park was also reclassified as a natural park. For the protection of the park from illegal activities including fishing and collection of other marine life, the government placed a station located at the southernmost tip of the North Atoll with the combined team from the Philippine Navy, Philippine Coast Guard, Municipality of Cagayancillo and the Tubbataha Management Office or TMO.


Ship Grounding Incident

Minesweeper USS Guardian during the process of dismantling.

There are thirteen ship grounding incidents recorded in the history of Tubbataha reef after it was declared as a natural park. The first incident happened on October 31, 2005 when the Greenpeace ship, Rainbow Warrior ran aground on it, damaging approximately 100 square metres (1, 100 sq ft) of reef which they paid a fine of about seven thousand US dollars ($7, 000) to the government. Between 2011 and April 2013 there are twelve incidents including two of our Philippine ships and the most controversial accident happened on January 17, 2013 when the US Navy minesweeper USS Guardian ran aground on it because the officers in charge did not adhere to standard US Navy navigation procedures. The U.S. Government apologized for the incident and relieved the four officers from duty. To avoid further damage of the coral reef the U.S. Navy decided to dismantle the ship in place and on March 30, the last section of the ship was removed from the reef and there was no evidence of fuel leakage from the grounded vessel were found. The U.S. Federal Government was assessed a fine of 24, 000 pesos or about 600 US dollars per square meter with additions for other violations, the total fine came to about 60 million pesos or 1.4 million U.S. dollars.

Chinese vessel ran aground the Tabbatahan reef.

Three months later a Chinese vessel ran aground the reef destroying 3,902 square meters of corals including some massive corals 500 years old. This is 66 percent larger than the 2,345.67 square meters damaged by the USS Guardian.The TMO said it has sent an official communication to the Chinese Embassy and the Department of Foreign Affairs seeking assistance in identifying the person or company liable. But until now their still no response from Chinese Government.

Chinese Poaching at West Philippine Sea

Tubbataha Incident

More than a year ago, 12 Chinese fishermen were arrested for illegal fishing when their vessel ran aground in Tubbataha reef last April 2013 and now faced a Puerto Princesa Court in Palawan. This Wednesday during the court hearing, the captain explained while in witness stand that their vessel wandered to the reef due to bad weather and a malfunctioning GPS device. However the respondents could not explain the endangered Philippine Pangolins or anteaters that were found in their freezer. Under Republic Act 10067, or the Tubbataha National Park Act, poaching is punishable by imprisonment of six to 12 years, a $100,000 fine, and forfeiture of the catch, fishing equipment and fishing vessel.

Hasa-Hasa Incident

Recently the PNP maritime police caught 11 chinese poacher with more than 500 endangered marine turtles in disputed Philippine waters two weeks ago, 2 of them are minors and turned over to the Department of Social Welfare and Department of Foreign Affairs for deportation as required by law.

 The nine Chinese national arrested are identified as boat captain Chen Yi Quan, chief engineer Chen Ze Hao and crews Shi Xian Xiong, Shi Liang Duong, He Chuan, Huang Ji Xuan, He Sheng Bao, He Yuan Cheng, and Lu Chuan Fang. On Wednesday, they pleaded not guilty to violating the Philippine Fisheries Code of 1998 in a Palawan court. The nine accused have yet to post bail. The Department of Justice recommended P30,000 bail each for violation of section 87, and P40,000 each for Section 97, of the code and if ever found guilty beyond reasonable doubt they going to serve up to 20 years in prison with a fines of up to 5 million pesos.

Pag-Asa Island Incident

The ABS-CBN News released a footage that shows Chinese boats poaching giant clams from West Philippine sea near Pag-Asa island Last April 2014. According to local fisherman Mr. Ronie Cajamco the chinese start hunting taklobo or giant clams around 6 o'clock in the morning up to 5 o'clock in the afternoon, after the whole day of digging, because the giant clams was embedded in corral reef they going to collect it and transferred to a big ship stationed on the disputed waters.

According to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) a giant clams is classified as an endangered species and should not be harvested or sold, they also said that it takes around 50 years before a giant clams grow to a large size.

The Department of Foreign Affairs expressed alarm over the number of Chinese vessels and number of giant clams harvested within the Philippine territory. The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) states that while territorial disputes have yet to be resolved, natural resources in the disputed waters can not be exploited or destroyed but Beijing has said that it does not recognize the arbitration case filed by Philippines before a UN tribunal.