REEF DAMAGE | Assessment over, panel says US vessel destroyed 2,346 sq.m. of Tubbataha

From InterAksyon (Apr 5): REEF DAMAGE | Assessment over, panel says US vessel destroyed 2,346 sq.m. of Tubbataha




PUERTO PRINCESA CITY, Philippines - The grounding of the decommissioned USS Guardian caused damage to 2,345.67 square meters of the Tubbataha Reef, or over half of the initial estimate of 4,000 sq.m., the Tubbataha Protected Area Management Board said Friday.

This means the cost of damage to be imposed on the US Navy could go down from the initial estimate of P96 million to just P60 million.

Jose Ma. Lorenzo Tan, Vice-President of the World Wildlife Fund and member of the TPAMB, gave the extent of damage upon completion of the joint assessment by the scientific team on the grounding site of the USS Guardian, the US Navy mine sweeper that ran aground January 17 at the northern tip of the South Atoll of Tubbataha Reef.

According to Tan, the methodology used in the measurement accounted for the difference between the extent of damage cited from an earlier assessment by the US Navy and the latest assessment conducted just this week.

“The first [assessment] team used boxes to delineate the areas that were damaged. Boxes are straight lines and corners. But in a natural environment things do not happen in straight lines and corners. The Philippine-led team used a method called shaped polygons that followed the natural contour of the reef,” Tan explained.

This method was reinforced by aerial photography and GPS readings that determined the actual area of damage, he added.

With this at hand, the TPAMB has already authored a resolution addressed to the US Embassy in Manila, demanding compensation for damage done by the grounding of the US vessel to the reef, tagged a World Heritage Site by UNESCO because is one of the richest sanctuaries for biodiversity on the planet.

Based on the Implementing Rules and Regulations of the RA 10067 or the law that established the Tubbataha Protected Area, all vessels that run aground on Tubbataha shall be fined P12,000 for every square meter of damage to the reef plus another P12,000 for the rehabilitation.

But the TPAMB has refused to disclose the exact figures.

“The exact figure is still being discussed by the board. But it will be around P50-60 million,” Tan said Friday.

Angelique Songco, park superintendent of Tubbataha Reef, appealed to the Department of Foreign Affairs to help them negotiate with the US Embassy.

“Of course we need the help of the DFA. We hope they’ll help us,” said Songco.

Asked when the US should settle the reparation, Songco said it should be “ASAP.”

“Ganun naman talaga ang gusto nang naniningil diba? Dapat mabayaran agad [Any one collecting a debt wants to be paid promptly],” she said.

http://www.interaksyon.com/article/58778/reef-damage--assessment-over-panel-says-us-vessel-destroyed-2346-sq-m--of-tubbataha