Renowned artist AG Saño and about 50 local volunteers collaborated on Sunday on a mural on the outside wall of a three-story building at the center of the city to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Tubbataha Reefs, the country’s largest marine protected area and a UN-inscribed World Heritage Site.
Government agencies are now asking each other who is going to pay the Subic-based towing firm that was tapped by the government to pull out the Chinese ship Min Long Yu from Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park.
Team Pnoy senatorial bet Jamby Madrigal on Sunday urged Malacañang to prioritize the release of P150 million earmarked for government agencies tasked to keep watch over the country’s protected areas, including Tubbataha Reef.
Amidst reports that a Chinese fishing vessel had run aground in Tubbataha Reef, Team PNoy senatorial bet Jamby Madrigal on Tuesday called for tighter security measures around the Unesco World Heritage site.
Tubbataha Reef Parks officials aired the hope, on Sunday, that the US Navy would pay the “appropriate fine” for the damage to the reef caused by the Jan. 17 grounding of the USS Guardian.
The USS Guardian dismantling operation continued on Thursday after the grounded US Navy minesweeper’s four engines were removed and transferred to a barge by the lead crane ship Jascon 25, the Philippine Coast Guard said.
Bad weather has forced a US Navy-hired salvage team to suspend its operation to dismantle the USS Guardian, grounded since Jan. 17 on the Tubbataha Reef in the Sulu Sea, according to the Philippine Coast Guard.
A motion has been filed with the Supreme Court that sought the re-negotiation of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) which was prompted following the grounding of a minesweeper in the Unesco heritage site Tubbataha national park.
Joint assessment of the Philippine Coast Guard, US Navy and Tubbataha Reef Management on the damage caused by the grounding of USS Guardian on the Sulu Sea continued on Wednesday.
Philippine Coast Guard divers will make a “final assessment” of the USS Guardian’s damage on the Tubbataha Reef in the Sulu Sea once the grounded US Navy mine countermeasure vessel is removed from the Philippine marine park, the PCG spokesperson has told the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
It could take more than 10,000 years before the corals damaged by a US Navy ship in the Tubbataha Reefs will regrow to its previous state, Akbayan Representative Risa Hontiveros said Thursday.
Damage on Tubbataha Reef caused by the US Navy minesweeper that ran aground in Sulu Sea has been estimated at 1,000 square meters based on initial assessment, the Philippine Coast Guard said Wednesday.
Seven intrepid men sail the waters off Tubbataha Reef aboard a striking black-and-white “panda” yacht called MY Navorca. They navigate the rough currents of the Sulu Sea and skim across waves as tall as houses to stand guard over the marine sanctuary.
