Student activists (right) scuffle with policemen during a protest in front of the
Monetary penalties are not enough punishment for members of the United States Navy, whose ship got stuck on the Tubbataha Reef in Sulu province, House leaders said on Saturday. Representatives Roilo Golez of Parañaque City and House Assistant Majority Leader Sherwin Tugna of Citizens Battle Against Corruption party-list, said that a more severe penalty should be handed to the US Navy ship for damaging at least 10 meters of the protected reef, which is proclaimed a world heritage site.
“That [monetary dues] should be the minimum penalty. The other is the possible violation of the innocent passage principle under the Unclos [United Nations Convention on the Law of the Seas]. Why didn’t the vessel follow the usual innocent passage route?” asked Golez, a former member of the Philippine Navy.
The captain of the ship, he added, should be relieved from service for good. “A simple grounding can seriously damage his naval career. This one is even worse, can be career-ending for him,” the lawmaker said.
Tugna backed Golez, noting the lack of cooperation and seeming arrogance of the US Navy in failing to explain outright the reason why they are in the reef. The USS Guardian reportedly refused to allow agents of the Protected Area Management Board to board the ship. “I believe that aside from the P12,000 fine per day, actual and exemplary [corrective] damages should be paid by the US government. The ship commander prevented park rangers from approaching the vessel that is currently atop of our reef. There must be a sufficient explanation why they are in Tubbataha Reef and what is the nature of their presence here in our territory,” Tugna argued.
A militant group blamed the joint military exercises or the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) between the government and the United States over the reef. “After the disposal of toxic wastes in Subic last year, now it is another devastation of our natural resources,” said Bagong Alyansang Makabayan Secretary General Paulo Quiza. “Under VFA, expect that a worse kind of devastation will happen again. The Aquino regime is ever subservient to US government just like the previous administration, even risking the interest of the Filipino people,” Quiza added.
However, for House Deputy Majority Leader Romero Quimbo, it is still too early to call for more severe sanctions because the cause of the accident is yet to be determined. “Before we talk of any sanctions, we must first find out what happened. Sometimes we can be so fickle as a country. When the Chinese kept cruising in our seas, not a few people were hoping the US would come and defend us. Now that we see their presence, people are jumping the blaming game without finding out first what happened,” the legislator from Marikina said.
http://www.manilatimes.net/index.php/news/headlines-mt/39788-us-should-pay-for-damaging-reef-lawmakers
Not a good thing when you get your friends mad at you. Rep. Rolio Golez is a past graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis.
ReplyDeleteThe Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN-New Patriotic Alliance), the main CPP-affiliated umbrella front organization in the Philippines is almost gleefully exploiting the issue in its anti-U.S. propaganda attacks.
There has been much that has been reported in the media that appears to be incorrect. The ship is not sinking and is not leaking oil. As of yet no one knows the extent of the damage caused to the reef.
There seems to be some as yet uncorobborated evidence that the grounding may have been the result of faulty navigation charts.
Other issues such as the reluctance of the commander of the Guardian to allow park rangers to board his ship seem reasonable given the insurgency/terrorism situation in the Philippines which requires cautious force protection measures that appear to have been misinterpreted by Filipinos and the media.
A thorough investigation of the incident may well explain and lay to rest much of the negative speculation over the incident and help assuage the frayed national pride of most thoughtful Filipinos.