Governor orders probe into damaged coral reefs in Bohol

INSPECTION Dive volunteers inspect the damaged coral reefs at the Napaling dive site in Barangay Tangnan, Panglao, Bohol, on Saturday, Jan. 4. —PHOTO COURTESY OF GOV. ARIS AUMENTADO

TAGBILARAN CITY—The Bohol provincial government has launched an investigation into yet another vandalism found in a coral reef off Barangay Tangnan in Panglao, one of the town’s top diving spots.

Bohol Gov. Erico Aristotle Aumentado said the coral reefs, which were part of the Napaling dive site, were destroyed by irresponsible divers who stepped on the corals.

READ: DENR, Bohol execs probe vandalized coral reef in top dive spot

“I am very disappointed in what happened to the corals. You know what our efforts are to preserve nature. And I am very grateful to everyone who has supported our advocacy in this regard,” he said in a Facebook post on Jan. 4.

Aumentado vowed to take legal action against the persons behind the destruction of the coral reefs.

“We will punish those responsible for the damage to the corals in Tangnan, Panglao because I cannot allow any of our marine treasures to deteriorate from abuse and neglect,” the governor said.

Last year, authorities also discovered graffiti on corals at the Estaca snorkeling area off Virgin Island, another dive site in Panglao.

An investigation pointed to a local dive guide as the culprit, who wrote the names of his clients on the corals in exchange for money.

The discovery of the graffiti prompted Aumentado to offer a P200,000 incentive to anyone who could give information about the persons who vandalized the corals.

Eventually, the local government of Panglao closed the Estaca dive site to the public indefinitely.

Protected seascape

The dive sites in Panglao are part of the Panglao Island Protected Seascape and are protected by the Expanded National Integrated Protected Areas System.

Scuba diving has become an increasingly popular tourism activity in the island town of Panglao, aside from visitors being drawn to its white sand beaches.

While it has contributed to the local economy, the growth of scuba diving has caused damage to the coral reefs and marine biodiversity, conservationists noted.

Doloreich Dumaluan, a resort owner and a former mayor of a town, earlier called for an inventory of all dive shops in Panglao amid the increasing number of illegal operators in the town.

“The destruction of our coral reefs has been [happening for] quite a while in Panglao,” he noted.

Dumaluan urged authorities to not only revoke the licenses of erring dive shops but to also declare those responsible for destroying coral reefs as persona non grata “because they did nothing but destroy the environment.”

Vandalism of corals and destruction of coral reefs is a violation of the environmental laws of the Philippines.