Zambo raids yield 30-40 tons of corals, shells

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines—The pile of corals, shells and other species seized here for the past two days was so huge that the seabed around Sulu would have been scraped bare by now if the marine trove came from there, according to a top official of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR).

“It would have rendered the Sulu waters critical because only about 4 percent of corals and shells would have been left there,” BFAR Director Asis Perez said.

Perez made the assessment after a cache of marine life contraband was discovered late Saturday night in a second warehouse maintained by Olivia Li of the controversial firm Li & Lim Trading in Barangay San Roque here.

Another storage house believed to be used by the firm yielded the same banned items earlier that day.

Theresa Mundita Lim, director of the Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau (PAWB), said Saturday night’s find alone “was five times of what we have seized in Manila in May.”

“From the looks of it, (this constitutes) a very extensive damage to our coral reef,” Lim said.

‘’It would scare me to dive if we finally find the area these corals came from. It’s very sad, you can’t imagine where they got all these. It’s sad they did not know what they were doing in relation to food security,’’ Lim said.

According to estimates made by the warehouse’s caretaker, the stash could range from 30 to 40 tons, enough to pack eight 20-foot container vans.

‘’It could (have covered) more than 1,000 sq. km, and per square kilometer of coral reef there are about 30 to 40 tons of different fish varieties thriving, so just imagine how many tons of fish were affected,’’ Lim added.

Government agents, led by the BFAR, found the contraband stuffed in sacks and boxes and piled under rusting metal sheets inside the warehouse at Yuscom compound, a property belonging to another businessman, Benny Yu.

It was the second warehouse identified with Li & Lim Trading to have yielded banned marine species.

Earlier on Saturday, Perez led an inspection team that included policemen and local officials who found piles of corals, shells and other marine species inside another Li & Lim warehouse.

He said the volume of contraband from this first warehouse was so large that it would take more than two 20-foot container vans to hold all of it.

Similar items were also discovered at a warehouse operated by Uan Huat Trading, a company registered in the name of Li’s husband, Jose Pring, also known as Joe Ping.

In 2007, authorities seized banned marine species from the Uan Huat warehouse here and later filed charges against Pring, a Taiwanese national.

No knowledge

A counsel for Yu, in whose property Li’s warehouse stood in Barangay San Roque, maintained that his client had no knowledge that Li’s activities were illegal.

Lawyer Quirino Esguerra said Yu simply rented out the warehouses to Li.

“We volunteered to open the compound to authorities to clear the name of Yu, who might have been unknowingly implicated in the issue,” Esguerra said.

Perez said a highly organized syndicate was certainly involved, judging from the pattern of the illegal trade in marine species.

“So many people were involved. People who are gathering and selling, consolidating,’’ he said.

“There are people making sure (the goods are) transported and people who hide their real identities (as consignees),” he added.

“There’s really a pattern. It’s a pretty well thought-out operation, not something you do by impulse.”

The BFAR has filed charges against Li and several others for violation of fisheries laws.

The other respondents were Exequiel D. Navarro, who was listed in the shipment’s manifest and bill of lading as the consignee of the seized marine products in Manila; Kim L. Atillano, owner of the Zamboanga-based JKA Transport System, the alleged cargo forwarder; and one Ireneo Penuliar.

Officials of the Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) said Aboitiz Shipping, the company that transported the banned items seized in Manila the other week, should also be held liable since its workers must have known they were handling illegal cargo. Julie Alipala, Inquirer Mindanao