From the Philippine News Agency (Apr 7):
Palace: Diplomatic protest against
US on Tubbataha Reef damage 'unnecessary'
Malacanang on Sunday said there is no need to file a diplomatic protest
against the United States
given its commitment in the rehabilitation of the damaged reefs and willingness
to pay for the compensation.
"A diplomatic protest may be unnecessary at this point given that the United States
has been cooperating with our maritime investigation and has committed to the
compensation and rehabilitation of the reef," said Deputy Presidential
Spokesperson Abigail Valte in a text message.
Based on the joint assessment conducted by the
Philippines
and the
US
authorities, about 2,345.67 square meters of corals were damaged by the
grounded minesweeper USS Guardian, which is lower than the initial estimate of
4,000 square meters.
Under Philippine law, ships that run aground on Tubbataha are fined P24,000
(US$ 585) for every square meter of damaged reef.
As such, the
United
States has to pay a fine of about P58
million (about US$ 1.4 million) for the damage incurred on the reef.
Valte said the amount as assessed by the Tubbataha Management Office is in
accordance with the provisions of Republic Act 10067, which serves as the basis
for the fine.
The USS Guardian was grounded on the UNESCO World Heritage site Tubbataha Reef
on Jan. 17. It was finally removed from the reef on March 30 after it was cut
into pieces.
http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=&sid=&nid=&rid=513964
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