11 foreigners charged for polluting Sarangani Bay

Thursday 19th of July 2012

GLAN, Sarangani, July 18 (PIA) -- The 11 officers and crew of two foreign vessels that dumped “pollutants” into Sarangani Bay almost two months ago were charged Monday (July 16) for various environmental offenses.

Mayor Victor James Yap Sr. filed the complaint before provincial prosecutor Felipe Vicente Velasco at the Justice on Wheels mobile court against the officers and crew of TB Oceania 1 (tugboat) and Oceania 2 (barge).

The respondents were from Malaysia, Indonesia and Myanmar.

They were charged for violation of the Clean Water Act (pollution of water body), violation of the National Integrated Protected Areas System (NIPAS) Act of 1992, marine pollution under PD 979, and aquatic pollution under the Philippine Fisheries Code of 1998.

Mayor Yap has been authorized by the Sarangani Bay Protected Seascape-Protected Area Management Board to file for and its behalf any legal action against the respondents “for whatever illegal acts they committed within the area of its jurisdiction.”

In his complaint affidavit, Mayor Yap said that the foreigners “willfully and feloniously dumped pollutants on the sea water believed to be coal, of quantity incapable of being known or estimated,” on May 26, 2012, at about 4 p.m., while on board their vessels TB Oceania 1 (tugboat) and Oceania 2 (barge), which vessels were stationed at about 200 meters from one of the beaches in Sitio Kabug, Barangay Kapatan.

The mayor said the area is within Glan’s municipal waters and inside the Sarangani Bay Protected Seascape.

A Sarangani Information Office photographer, who was on a nearby resort, caught the incident on camera and sent pictures to higher authorities. This led the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) to hold the vessels and crew.

The vessels are in custody at the International Port of Glan.

“The area, where the acts of dumping pollutants (was committed), is fronting a private resort named Belmar Ecopark Beach Resort,” Yap disclosed in his complaint. “As the activity was done in broad daylight it was witnessed by quite a number of people.”

According to the PCG, the vessels had unloaded their coal cargo in Manila and were set to load scrap metals at General Santos City seaport as consigned by Cebu Metal before going back to Malaysia.

The cargo, however, was unavailable on time thus the illegal anchorage in Kapatan. The PCG said the vessels might have docked away from the seaport to avoid the docking fees to accumulate while waiting for their cargo.

In a separate maritime incident, the provincial government of Sarangani last year was able to get compensation from the owners of MV Double Prosperity which destroyed four hectares of corals when it ran aground Bacud Reef in Kiamba. The Panamanian-registered MV Double Prosperity ran aground at Bacud Reef on May 8, 2011 while passing the Sarangani strait enroute to India from Australia

The total compensation package of P20 million constituted the P10 million representing the actual valuation of experts for the actual damage, and additional P10 million allotted for the rehabilitation of the damaged reef which is within the Sarangani Bay Protected Seascape. Sarangani Bay is a protected seascape by virtue of Presidential Proclamation No. 756 in relation to the National Integrated Protected Area System (NIPAS Act of 1992) and its Revised Implementing Rules and Regulations (DAO 2008-26).(Serafin N. Ramos Jr./PIO Sarangani/PIA General Santos City)