Manila Bulletin, Philippines : Marine heritage endangered

03/26/2003

Marine heritage endangered

By Tony B. Villar, Jr

The Western Pangasinan Tourism Caucus (WPTC) of the Pangasinan Tourism Council (PTC) has brought the environmental problems of the 100 islands to the attention of the International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI), host of the on going International Tropical Marine Ecology Management Symposium (ITMEMS-2) at the Westin Philippine Plaza in Manila.

The WPTC is appealing for the immediate resolution of the technical and legal problems that are blocking the rehabilitation of the “Geological Heritage” and world-famous tourist destination in Alaminos City.

The problems of massive fishpond squating, and land grabbing of Philippine Tourism Authority (PTA) properties involving politically powerful families in Pangasinan have been going on for years.

Even the “Ejectment Cases” brought to court by the PTA have been gathering dust in the duckets of a local court of justice.

Th PTA Agency in Alaminos City is apparently powerless in safeguarding and regulating the 100 Islands National Park.

Time and again, the local governments and tourism authorities undertake projects “to help resuscitate the ecosystems in the Park.

But, these are overwhelmed by the daily flood of silted waters disgorged by these fishponds, abetted by unprocessed waste from the Alaminos City mainland.

The 100 islands have no waste processing and treatment facility in place to safeguard the National Park.

The 100 Islands’ 123 islands was once famous for its coral and reef formation inhabited by more than 5,000 species of marine life. Now, these could be found only in the outer fringes of the island group.

The sactions of the islands near the fishponds and the coastlines are now inundated with mud and silt. Even the UP Giant Clam project in Quezon Islands has been silted.