MANILA, Philippines?The government will run after both the claimant seller and buyer of one of the Turtle Islands because the island group is a national protected area and wildlife sanctuary owned by the state, according to Environment Secretary Lito Atienza.

No private individual can lay claim or subject to titling any of the six islands in the group which is a municipality of Tawi-Tawi province on the southwesternmost edge of the country, said Atienza who was interviewed by Vice President Noli de Castro on the latter?s ?Para Sa Iyo, Bayan? TV program.

The mayor of the Turtle Islands, Omarkhan Aripin, claimed on Friday that one of the group?s six named islands, Great Bakungan, had been illegally sold for P3 million to the family of Tawi-tawi Gov. Sadikul Sahali by the heirs of Rolando Tan, the claimed owner of the island.

Aripin has gone to the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) to complain against the allegedly illegal transaction made by the Sahali family.

Mysterious land titling

The Turtle Islands?consisting of Boan, Lihiman, Langaan, Great Bakungan, Taganak, Baguan and one nameless island?together with three islands belonging to Malaysia constitute Southeast Asia?s largest remaining nesting site for the green sea turtle and one of only 10 nesting grounds in the world.

The island group was declared a protected area and turtle sanctuary by the government in 1996 to guarantee the continued existence of the green sea turtles and their nesting site. A government marine turtle conservation project maintains a research station in the islands.

Atienza said there have been attempts by certain people to obtain title to the Turtle Islands in the past but the government has never recognized these.

?You know, that?s one of the mysterious workings of land administration in this country. Some people somehow succeed in obtaining questionable titles and other documentation, which should not happen. The Turtle Islands cannot be sold and cannot be titled,? he said.

?If a sale has indeed occurred, we will investigate and we will oppose it because we have to protect national interest. The Turtle Islands is one of the last turtle breeding and natural habitat and they cannot be sold,? Atienza stressed.

Atienza said he would first talk to the governor to check the basis for the purchase, study the documents they have and how they went about it.

Sahali said that while he recognized that the Turtle Islands was a protected area, the sale of Great Bakungan was legal.

Atienza said he had asked the regional officials of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to look into the reported sale and verify the documents of the transaction.

Ridiculous sale

The militant Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) fisherfolk group said Malacañang should revoke the sale, which it described as ?ridiculous.?

?President Macapagal-Arroyo can void the sale by just signing an executive order telling Gov. Sahali that the Turtle Islands belong to the Filipino people and should never be subjected for sale. The sale of the island is tantamount to a crime against national patrimony and public interest,? said Pamalakaya national chair Fernando Hicap.

The group said the issue also merits the urgent intervention of Congress.

?We ask Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and House Speaker Prospero Nograles to lead both chambers of Congress in investigating this sale,? Pamalakaya said.

The group also denounced the DENR?s regional officials in Zamboanga City for failing to inform the public of the reported sale of Great Bakungan which they had investigated.

?They have the report dated June 26, 2009, on their investigation but they just kept it among themselves instead of bringing this matter to national attention,? the militant group said.

Not convincing

In its report, the DENR Zamboanga office said that the documents on the sale presented by the Sahalis were not convincing evidence of their legal right to the island for them to be given title to the property.

But it did not find enough evidence to prosecute so it recommended that a panel be commissioned to conduct a more extensive investigation to gather sufficient evidence to support a valid court action.

?If that is the case, how come the DENR has never issued a bold public statement nullifying the transaction between the heirs of the owner and Gov. Sahali?? Pamalakaya said.