'TOKEN' FOR TUBBATAHA | Groups hit P58-M bill, but Palace says sum set by law; no case vs US Navy

From InterAksyon  (Apr 7): 'TOKEN' FOR TUBBATAHA | Groups hit P58-M bill, but Palace says sum set by law; no case vs US Navy

A day after the management of the Tubbataha Reef said the cost of damage to be billed the US Navy will just be around P58 million based on rates set by law, Palace officials said the filing of a legal action, outside of the collection, is not necessary.

Malacanang’s position is expected to whip up even more strong reactions from nationalist groups, who on Sunday described as “token, incorrigible, diabolical” the P58-million bill that Manila plans to send the US Navy for the damage caused by its minesweeper last January 17 as it ran aground the Reef, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

In a final assessment report, the damage caused by the salvaged minesweeper USS Guardian to the reef off Palawan had been set Friday by an inter-agency team of experts at just over 2,300 square meters, far from the 4,000 sq.m. initially estimated by the US Navy. With this area of damage, the law as it stands only allows the Philippines to charge P58 million, park superintendent Angelique Songco had said Saturday.

On Sunday, Palace spokesperson Abigail Valte clarified that the Philippine government has no plans to lodge a case for arbitration.

"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," Valte said.

She added the Aquino government is not inclined to bring the matter to an international tribunal for further arbitration, despite earlier calls by citizen groups for Manila to press the US Navy to have the concerned officers stand trial. "A diplomatic protest may be unnecessary at this point given that the United States has been cooperating with our maritime investigation," Valte said.

According to earlier estimates, the cost to the US government of salvaging, instead of towing, the Guardian---an option deemed as the one least likely to cause further damage to the reef---had reached over $40 million.

Groups blast $1.4 million for Tubbataha damage

On Sunday, the groups Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) and Anakpawis partylist assailed the small sum---the $1.4 million--the US government will pay for damage.

Pamalakaya vice chair Salvador France and Anakpawis vice chairperson Fernando Hicap said in a joint statement: "The response of the US government to the damage they did to Tubbataha Reef which is deeply rooted from their all-time high violation of Philippine sovereignty is undeniably token, totally incorrigible and grossly diabolical."

Tubbataha Park management chief Songco had been quoted in press reports as having admitted that the $1.4 million is but a slap on the wrist, as the salvage operation has been estimated to cost close to $45 million.

"However, we respect the rule of law and this is the fine stipulated. The Tubbataha Management Office will not ask for anything more,” she said.

Songco told Agence France-Presse that she is “not worried about criticism (for the small amount).”
"We are not to be dishonest. It is just a simple process—measure it correctly and then they pay. That is all. It is very straightforward trying to put one over them and we hope they will do the same with us,” Songco told AFP.

But Pamalakaya and Anakpawis partylist leaders said Songco was pressured by both the US Embassy in Manila and Malacanang Palace to just accept the fact that the Philippine government and the Department of Foreign Affairs cannot ask for more from Washington D.C.

It was unclear what their basis was for saying Songco was “pressured,” considering Songco was among the first Philippine officials to publicly denounce the conduct of the USS Guardian officers who ignored warnings to avoid the reef.

This week, Pamalakaya and Anakpawis party list said they will file criminal and other appropriate charges against officials and other 79 crew members of the Guardian. "The case will be filed before the Department of Justice next week. Our legal counsel is now preparing the charge sheet against Lt. Cmdr. Mark Rice and Lt. Daniel Tyler, the executive officer and assistant navigator and the rest of the crew of the American minesweeper."

Pamalakaya and Anakpawis partylist officials insisted the US officials and the 79 crew of USS Guardian are liable for violating Republic Act 10067 that declared Tubbataha a protected area, and that individuals who violated the law may be punished with up to six years imprisonment and may be slapped with fines of up to P 300,000.

The United States Navy Pacific Command has relieved four officers of the Guardian, including Rice and Tyler.

In pressing for more compensation from the US, the groups said, “the damage caused by the grounding of USS Guardian on Tubbataha Natural Reef Park is bigger, far more reaching and strategically fatal to the livelihood of Filipino fishermen and to the fishing environment directly link to the protected reef park.” The Reef is home to 360 species of corals or about half of all coral species in the world and it is also the breeding ground of 1,500 fish species in the country out of the 2,400 total fish species found across the archipelago, the groups noted.

According to them, “the damage created by the USS grounding on Tubbataha will have a strategic negative impact on fish production and livelihood of not less than 100,000 fisherfolk and fish workers in commercial fishing vessels in West Palawan Sea and Sulu-Celebes Sea and adjacent fishing waters in the Visayas and Mindanao.” This, because Tubbataha Reef Park also plays an important role in maintaining the average annual production of 800,000 metric tons of fish in the West Palawan Sea and Sulu-Celebes Sea, two of the country’s major fishing grounds connected with Tubbataha, they claimed.

http://www.interaksyon.com/article/58883/token-for-tubbataha--groups-hit-p58-m-bill-but-palace-says-sum-set-by-law-no-case-vs-us-navy