Climate change hastens extinction of ‘pawikan’

By Jonathan L. Mayuga

 

Published in the Business Mirror, May 31, 2016 

http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/climate-change-hastens-extinction-of-pawikan/

 

Pawikan DENR-Strategic Communication and Initiatives Service

Climate change is partly being blamed for the dwindling global population of marine turtles.  Conservation experts in the Turtle Islands Wildlife Sanctuary (TIWS) suggest that the problem could be worse.

They said El Niño and beach erosion caused by climate change-triggered effects, such as sea-level rise and storm surges because of the intensifying typhoons, might hasten the extinction of these mysterious creatures of the sea.

The downtrend in the number of nesting marine turtles and eggs in the TIWS has been observed over the past decade by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Biodiversity Management Bureau (DENR-BMB) working under Pawikan Conservation Program (PCP) on Turtle Islands, Tawi Tawi.

Aggravating rampant illegal wildlife trade that targets pawikan and the human habitation of beachfronts are the longer hot season, an effect of El Niño and beach erosion, which destroys marine turtle’s nesting grounds.

Experts said it has become extremely hard for these mariners of the sea to dig a pit for their eggs.

One theory is the long dry season, which makes the sand in beaches dryer and harder to dig a pit. Another theory is erosion, which causes beaches to shrink, leaving pawikan no choice but to instinctively scale up and move farther away from the ocean where the sand covering the soil is thinner and much harder for the pawikan to dig.

Whichever is the case, the country’s top biodiversity official said there is a need to validate these theories, particularly at the TIWS, to address the problem.

“We have to validate and know the extent of the effect to beaches caused by El Niño. But what we know is that beach erosion exposes the soil underneath the sand that is harder and more difficult for turtles to dig a pit for their eggs,” Theresa Mundita Lim, director of DENR-BMB, told the BusinessMirror in an interview on Wednesday.

‘Pawikan’ sanctuary

Composed of six islands, Turtle Islands is a municipality in Tawi-Tawi. It was declared as a sanctuary for the endangered pawikan by virtue of Presidential Proclamation 171 on August 26, 1999, creating the TIWS under the National Integrated Protected Areas System (Nipas) Act.

TIWS covers an area of 138,357 hectares, which constitute of six islands, namely, Boan, Lihiman, Great Bakkungan, Langaan, Taganak and Baguan. As a wildlife sanctuary, the entire town is basically reserved for the conservation of the endangered pawikan, a migratory marine species believed to have existed for millions of years, along with the dinosaurs.

TIWS is part of the bigger Philippine-Sabah Turtle Islands Heritage Protected Area (TIHPA), which was forged through a historic bilateral agreement between the Philippines and Malaysia, creating the first and only trans-frontier protected area for marine turtles in the world. TIHPA is one of the biggest pawikan sanctuaries in the world.

TIHPA is composed of a total of nine islands for the purpose of conserving pawikan, three of which are in nearby Malaysia.

The management of the TIHPA is shared by both countries, making possible the conservation of habitats and sea turtles over a large area independent of their territorial boundaries.

Two of the six islands—Buan Island and Great Bakkungan Island—have been stricken out of the list of nesting sites being monitored by the DENR-BMB because of human encroachment of beach fronts causing pawikans to lay their eggs elsewhere.

Not exclusive for ‘pawikan’

The TIWS as a sanctuary, according to the DENR-BMB, is not exclusively for the conservation of pawikan. A profile of the TWIS indicates the area is rich in terrestrial and marine flora and fauna.

Turtle Islands supports a diverse population of marine fauna of corals and fishes, as well as two species of endangered marine turtles. TIWS exhibited the highest diversity in terms of marine communities among all Nipas sites in the country.

Two species of endangered marine turtles are found in Turtle Islands. Eighty percent of the country’s remaining marine turtle resource is found in the area.

Turtle Islands is regarded as the only major nesting ground, with more than 1,000 nesters of green turtle (Chelonia mydas) annually in the Asean Region. There are only 10 remaining nesting sites worldwide.

The hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata) also occur on the islands, but with a low density in nesting in contrast to the green turtle.

Worldwide, marine turtle population have critically declined, hence, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora and International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources has declared all species of marine turtles as endangered.

Other wildlife

The coastline of Baguan Island, according to a biological profile prepared by the DENR-BMB revealed that its coastline is encroached with tropical trees, such as tropical almond and coconut, and many others.

Around 50 seaweeds species were also recorded in the area, which represents 32 percent of the 158 of macrobenthic seaweeds identified from 18 coastal province in the country.

Of the 50 species identified, 23 species are of class of green algae, four species of brown algae and 23 species of red algae.

In terms of diversity, Baguan Island exhibits a significant difference in comparison to the other islands by possessing 47 species of seaweeds compared to Langaan and Taganak with only 25 and 20 species, respectively, according to the DENR-BMB.

The islands composing the TIWS are also inhabited by endangered reptiles, such as the monitor lizard, the natural predator of marine turtle eggs and hatchlings. Baguan Island is known to have more monitor lizards compared to the other islands.

There are two other species of lizard in the TIWS—the gecko and scincid.

Meanwhile, 12 species of birds were identified on Turtle Islands, two of which are endemic to the Turtle Islands, namely the Asian glossy starling and Treton v. vernans. In all islands, black rats, and fruit and insect bats were also observed.

 Cool chicks, hot dudes

According to Lim, scientific studies suggest that a marine turtle’s gender is influenced by the temperature of the nest—something pawikan conservation experts manning pawikan sanctuaries and hatcheries are concerned about with the advent of climate change.

“With warm temperature, it is likely that all eggs will develop into females. This will be a big problem if all hatchlings are all females,” Lim said.

Lim, who started her career in the DENR as one of the staff under Task Force Pawikan, which focuses on the conservation efforts on the Turtle Islands, said marine-turtle eggs are very delicate, too.

While an average of 80 percent of eggs laid actually hatch, very few of pawikan hatchlings may actually survive and become sexually mature to lay eggs and repopulate, a process which takes 30 to 40 years.

Causes of death

Scientists believe that effects of climate change to the population of pawikan have varying degrees.

At the TIWS, natural predation and climate-change effects, such as sea-level rise, storm surge and extreme heat adversely affect marine-turtle population.

“Storm surge and sea-level rise cause beach erosion. This means we are losing our nesting grounds for pawikan faster,” Lim said.

Also she said typhoons that trigger storm surge are known to destroy marine-turtle nests and exposure to saltwater causes plasmolysis, which destroys the eggs of pawikan. Accidents, such as falling with their back on the ground to lay eggs, also causes death because of direct exposure to sunlight. A pawikan can die within two hours because of extreme heat.

Another natural phenomenon, called sand switching, is a natural occurrence that shifts sand to other parts of an island or other islands, therefore, diminishing the nesting grounds of pawikan.

Too hot, too dry

Lately, protectors of TIWS, particularly its most-treasured pawikan, concluded that the number of nesting at the TIWS continues to decrease because of prolonged dry season, which is causing the sand in beaches to become stiff.

Minda Bairulla, TIWS Protected Areas Superintendent, in an e-mail message, told the BusinessMirror that from 2011 to 2015, pawikan nesting in the TIWS is decreasing.

“It has been observed that due to prolonged dry season, marine turtles were unable to nest because the sand is very dry and they find it hard to dig a pit to lay their eggs,” she said.

“Pawikan lays eggs all throughout the year but the peak are in the months of May, June and July. Around 30 to 50 nesting pawikan are observed to lay their eggs every night on the Turtle Islands,” she said.

In 2015 a total of 12,577 nesters were counted on the islands of Baguan, Langaan and Taganak.

From January to April this year, a total of 1,982 nesters were counted on Baguan and Langaan.

Beaches becoming dry and hard owing to El Niño is also occurring in other pawikan nesting grounds, which calls for the establishment of more marine turtle hatcheries.

With a pawikan nursery in place, the eggs are protected and released back to their natural habitat upon hatching.

Several hatcheries were created in select areas where many pawikan have been spotted to lay eggs.

Under normal circumstances, pawikan hatch from eggs on shore. Hatchlings struggle from their nesting ground to the beach.  It takes at least a decade for marine turtles to become sexually mature. Very little is known of how these hatchlings live in their natural habitat until they return decades later for their turn to lay eggs.

Using their fins, female marine turtles dig at least a foot deep to lay their eggs and cover them back with sand.

The incubation period range from 45 to 60 days, according to the DENR-BMB working under the Pawikan Conservation Program (PCP), which expanded the coverage of the Task Force Pawikan, from the Turtle Islands to the entire archipelago.

The effects of climate change due to longer dry season and hotter temperature increases the mortality of hatchlings during the incubation period, said Elsie Milana, a pawikan conservation expert who has a long experience in monitoring the behavior of the marine turtles during nesting at the TIWS.

She repeated earlier statements that the hot weather hardens the sand giving the pawikan difficulty to make their nest. Milana said as part of the conservation effort in the TIWS, after the pawikan succeeded in digging a pit and laying their eggs, the eggs are carefully transferred to pawikan hatcheries where they will be protected against natural predators, including people living in the islands who get the eggs for food.

Beach rehabilitation

According to Bairulla, the DENR office in Zamboanga Peninsula, which has jurisdiction over protected areas in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, is eyeing to rehabilitate the eroded beaches.

It is also coordinating with law enforcement agencies to conduct monitoring and patrolling on the islands, which is reportedly being frequented by foreign fishing vessels targeting pawikan.

According to Lim, the DENR-BMB will compare old and new aerial photos of the islands within the TIWS to see if the beaches have really changed over the past years, and assess the extent of the potential damage caused by beach erosion.

She said the same investigation may be conducted in other areas that are known to host pawikan-nesting areas.

Meanwhile, Lim, cautioned against beach rehabilitation by resort developers to improve beaches using heavy equipment. The process involves hauling sands back to beaches, which may damage existing nests.

She also warned against building walls in beachfronts by some resort owners to prevent erosion, saying the process also prevents nesting pawikan from going to beaches to nest and lay their eggs.

“Beaches have natural defense against erosion, which happens because of extensive damage to coral reefs. What we need to do is look into the condition of the corals and rehabilitate these areas where the damage has been extensive. That way, we will have a natural defense against beach erosion,” she said.

She said during her last visit at TIWS early this month, she received reports of the extensive damage to corals caused by dynamite fishing and other destructive fishing methods. This alone, she said, should be addressed with the help of local government units.

Lim is planning to revive the plan to promote Turtle Islands for ecotourism, which will involve the help and support of concerned local government officials.

Tourism, she said, will boost conservation efforts on Turtle Islands as the people become involved and gainfully employed in ecotourism activities instead of illegal wildlife trade.

 

Projects to revive train travel: derailed

By Jonathan L. Mayuga

 (I wrote this article sometime in mid 2004 when I was a correspondent of the defunct Today. It was the first lengthy article I wrote for the paper where I started my journalism career. I remember that I have to sift through tons of documents and interview a lot of people to come up with this report. I am posting it here in my blog for future reference. I retrieved this from a daily news bulletin of Quadencor. I hope they don’t mind me picking it up.)

After decades of neglect, the country’s railway system is getting the rightful attention from the government.


Undeniably, the country’s railways are right now in the brink of extinction. The intervention of the government to rehabilitate and modernize the railways is needed, just as the Philippine National Railways (PNR) needs nursing back to life.


The PNR is currently financially distraught, hemorrhaging from huge losses over the past years because of poor management, which can even barely maintain a decent office to do business and run its day-to-day operations. Railway facilities continue to deteriorate owing to waning public patronage. Commuters shun the PNR train, taking instead air-conditioned buses or the modern, elevated trains for convenient, comfortable and faster transportation. The PNR trains are being avoided because of the unsightly view of squatters’ shanties along both sides of the tracks and the long, boring ride inside the PNR’s decrepit, smelly commuter trains.


Professional squatters have put up businesses along the PNR properties, maintaining eateries, barber shops, vulcanizing shops, slaughterhouses, auto-repair shops and almost all sorts of establishments. Some even turn train stations into a flea markets.


Meanwhile, looters continue to bug the PNR’s operations, stealing the trains’ spare parts, the steel railings, the crushed rocks and gravel that firmly hold the rails, and just anything of value.


Today, only the Main Line South is left operational. Of the 940-km stretch, only 479 km are actually used. The Northrail Project, which would make use of the Main Line North of the PNR, was stalled by the squatters’ problem. The PNR is now in shamble, so to speak, and this mirrors the state of government efficiency.


A symbol of Filipino nationalism
The birth of the PNR is a result of Filipino patriotism, and the toiling in Spain of our heroes in the 19th century.


The first railway was constructed in Luzon, but was actually conceived in Spain by Filipino patriots like Dr. Jose Rizal, Antonio and Juan Luna, and many others, who were then fighting for political and social reforms thousands of miles across the sea.


A royal decree of King Alfonso XII of Spain authorized the preparation of the general plan of a railroad in Luzon on June 26, 1875, because of the fight waged by the Filipinos for their motherland.


They were then mocking Spain with this commentary, which awakened the king of Spain: “…While Spain meant well in her colonial policies as demonstrated by her benevolent Laws and Royal Decrees, unfortunately these decrees were seldom enforced by colonial officials, and abuses committed by officials of the Philippines were not known by the King of Spain.”


The construction of the railway itself was already a sign of progress, as the construction required thousands of workers that gave jobs to Filipinos whose work then revolved mostly around agriculture.


While it created jobs and spurred business activity in many parts of Luzon, the construction of the railway also had its adverse effect. People lost their homes as the construction also required some middle-class Filipinos to sell their properties for the construction of the railroad tracks.


Andres Bonifacio, whose birthplace was Tutuban, had to sell their small property in that swampy place in Tondo to give way for the construction of the railways.


On July 31, 1887, the railroad project had its cornerstone laying at the Tutuban main station.


The concession for the construction of the railway from Manila to Dagupan, Pangasinan, was awarded to the Manila Railway Co. Ltd., London.

The work went on until November 24, 1892, which saw the inauguration of the Manila-Dagupan Line, the first railroad in the Philippines. The 195-km line thus started transporting passengers.


The railway was damaged during the Philippine Revolution until it was placed under the control of the United States Army, which repaired and restored traffic on August 13, 1898. On April 20, 1900, the United States Army returned the railroad to Manila Railway Co. Ltd., London.


The US Congress, on July 1, 1902, authorized the Philippine Commission to grant franchises and concessions for construction of public utilities and services. During the same year, the Manila Railroad Co. Lt., London was transferred to the Manila Railroad Co., New Jersey.


In January 1917, the Philippine government acquired the Manila Railroad Co., New Jersey, and took over the railroad operation.


It was on January 31, 1938, when the first Bicol Express train became operational. On May 8, the same year, the unified system of railroad from San Fernando, La Union, to Legazpi, Albay, was inaugurated.


During the Japanese Occupation from 1942 to 1945, the railroad was under the control of the Japanese Imperial Army. It was only in February 1945, when the US Army took control and in turn transferred it to the Commonwealth Government on February 1, 1946.


The year 1956, saw the dieselization of the trains being operated by Manila Railway Co. On June 20, 1964, Republic Act 4156 was approved, creating the Philippine National Railway, absorbing all the assets, liabilities and personnel of the Manila Railroad.


The railway symbolizes the people’s dream for progress and development after the war, the same dream that paved the way for its construction more than a hundred years ago. The dream faded, and decades of neglect conquered the sense of nationalism that started it all.


Ups and downs
Like most government-owned corporations, the PNR has its ups and down. And for several times, it was nearly given up by the government. In 1999, the PNR board of directors entertained the idea of privatizing the PNR because of the huge losses it had been incurring.


Today, the PNR is heavily indebted and it now stands to lose its Tutuban property, which PNR management intends to sell to pay its huge debt to the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS). Employees’ salaries and workers’ wages are delayed at times, and top-level management cannot even maintain a decent office.


The PNR has lost many properties during its long period of financial distraught, including the Manila Hotel and the Pines Hotel in Baguio City, which it had to sell to maintain its operations. It also lost its own bus line servicing its employees and workers.


Some properties in Mindanao have also been sold to cover its huge losses and to be able to maintain operations.


As there were periods of distress, there were also times when the PNR employees and officials held their noses up in the air. An employee of the PNR said that 30 years ago, the PNR was competing with San Miguel Corp. in recruiting the brightest fresh graduates from the best universities and colleges. Utility personnel of the PNR during those times earned more than what a teacher earned.


The 1960s, the decade when the PNR was put to work, witnessed an all-time high, with trains from as far as Bicol transporting people and goods to as far as San Fernando, La Union and vise versa.


The 1970s and early 1980s witnessed the waning public patronage. It was also during this period that the facilities slowly deteriorated. The operation from Sangandaan, Caloocan City, to San Fernando, La Union, was also stopped because of poor revenues.

Service innovation was introduced in an effort to attract more commuters, most of whom were already riding buses instead of the train, by launching the Peñafrancia Express. Thirty-five newly refurbished coaches and divided into four trains offered amenities such as piped-in music and train stewardesses who offered personalized service and free snacks. Air-conditioned coaches were also introduced, and travel time was cut by less than half to eight hours.


There was also the Kaunlaran Express, which featured video movies at a minimal fee and air-conditioned dining coach in addition to other amenities.


But these innovations did not last long, as the competition with bus service along the same route lost steam for management, so it decided to switch attention with the launching of the PNR. Cargo Express for faster, efficient and safer transport of goods from the Bicol Region.


Again, these innovations were not meant to last, as the operational cost was more than what the PNR could make with poor patronage. Because of the huge losses it had incurred, it had to retrench more than two-thirds of its employees. Thus, from 10,000 the PNR only has only some 2,000 employees.


Wrong policies
PNR employees who have toiled over the decades of neglect blame the government for what the country’s railway firm has become. The country was the first in Asia to have its own railway, but now it has the worst in terms of railway facilities and even technology.


Our train service is also the worst, with squatters being a pain in the neck to PNR management and an irritation to commuters, who sometimes get stoned.


Commuters have long been complaining against people living along the railroad tracks for throwing at them stones or filthy garbage, sometimes human and animal excrement wrapped in paper. The local police could not do anything about it.


There are around 80,000 squatter families living along the PNR railroad tracks from San Fernando, La Union, to Legazpi, Albay. The mere presence of their shanties is severely affecting its operation and delaying ongoing projects to rehabilitate and modernize the railway.


While other countries have trains that can run as fast as 150 kph, our long-distance trains run at a speed of only 50 to 60 kph, while our short-distance trains or commuter trains run at only 10 to 20 kph.


With such speed, the PNR cannot compete with other faster modes of transportation such as the bus and elevated trains.


Engineer Edgardo Remonte, the PNR assistant general manager for operation, admitted that the government itself is to be blamed for the PNR’s bankruptcy.


He said the government concentrated more on the construction of more roads than more railroad tracks to reach far-flung areas and other destinations, and failed to introduce innovations to improve the service it offers to commuters.


Besides, he continued, the government constructed the expressway that runs parallel to the railroad track of the PNR.


“Instead of running perpendicular to the railroad, the expressway runs parallel to our railway. The government also issued franchises to provincial buses, which compete against the PNR,” he said. “Fortunately,” he added, “the government has realized the importance of the railway as a means of transportation, and it is now trying to rehabilitate and modernize our railway system.”


A comparative study of transport fares charged by the PNR as against that charged by private bus companies show that using the train is more economical. From Manila to Legazpi, for instance, the train fare is only P383, while bus fare is P712, or a difference of P392. Both offer air-conditioned accommodation, although the bus offers much faster travel.

Remonte blames the existence of squatters along the sides of the railroad tracks of the PNR for the slow train-travel time. “How can we go faster when people are all over the sides of railroad tracks?” he said.


“Relocate the squatters, clear the danger-zone and 90 percent of our maintenance problem is solved, and 50 percent of our rehabilitation project is done,” Remonte said.


According to Remonte, the PNR also has limited number of rolling stocks, which would carry passengers to their destination.


Remonte noted that there was a dramatic increase in ridership after the recent oil-price hike because bus fares also increased. However, the PNR lacks rolling stocks to make frequent travel as possible and to accommodate the passengers.


The PNR has only 14 locomotive engines to pull the trains. At present, the PNR only has two trains for daily long-distance routes from Manila to Legazpi and vice versa. The rest, composed of at least four coaches, are used as commuter trains plying short-distance routes from Manila to Calamba in Laguna and Batangas and vice versa.


According to Remonte, the PNR is not making enough money from its operation. He admitted that the PNR is incurring a loss of at least P20 million a month, considering that for the employees’ salaries alone, the PNR has to spend P22 million a month. The PNR is spending P3 million a month for diesel plus the usual maintenance cost to keep the trains running.


“We also need to spend for spare parts, some of which are destroyed or stolen. Our income from passengers is around P6 million to P 7 million a month, so what do you expect? The PNR is incurring huge losses every year. But still, we manage to survive,” he said. The PNR is getting support from the national government amounting to P30 million every year, until it was stopped in 2002.


The PNR is earning P72 million a year from its lease of the Tutuban property, which is now supporting the day-to-day operation of the PNR.


Remonte said that in order to save the PNR, the government should privatize the train’s operation to let investment flow in and help the company regain its strength and compete with private bus companies.


Or better yet, he said, the government should subsidize the operation of the PNR and allot budget for its modernization to bounce back and regain its lost glory.


Mismanaged?
Disgruntled employees, however, blame graft and corruption more than simple mismanagement as the reason for the collapse of the railway system under the PNR.


Armando Cruz, president of the Bagong Kapisanan ng mga Manggagawa sa PNR-ITF, said that since the government took over the Manila Railway Corp., the condition of the railway system worsened.


He said squatters multiplied year after year, and the government did not do anything to prevent them from encroaching on government property.


“Government and PNR officials only took advantage of their position and turned the PNR into a milking cow. They did nothing but to enrich themselves while in power,” Cruz said.


According to him, PNR officials are “systematically” draining the resources of one of the richest government-owned corporations and allowing the rank-and-file employees to suffer the consequences of incurring huge losses year after year.


“There is definitely a problem somewhere. Where does the PNR’s money go? Before, the PNR owned the Manila Hotel, the Pines Hotel in Baguio. We had lots of properties that were lost because those at the helm were doing nothing but sell the PNR’s property to cover up for the losses. But did they do anything to maintain these trains, to upgrade the technology? Where did they spend the money, then?” he said.


PNR officials, Cruz said, are facing several cases of graft and corruption at the Ombudsman. While the PNR is already incurring losses, some officials were accused of purchasing overpriced spare parts, materials and even office supplies.

The government could have at least stopped corruption perpetrated by those at the helm by removing them from office, he said.


While Cruz said he and members of the train workers’ union welcome any move on the part of the government to rehabilitate the railways system, he expressed doubt that it would, in general, save the institution and the people who have toiled during its decades of neglect.


According to Cruz, PNR employees are always the least of the worries of the government.


“We have been waiting for those promised changes, but nothing happened. If they want to rehabilitate the railway, so be it, but I hope this grand plan includes us, those who have been working hard to make these trains run despite its poor condition,” he said.


The PNR, according to him, owns real estate properties, which the government can use for its rehabilitation, to pay the huge debt it owes the GSIS, and to grant employees benefits they deserve.


But he said the government never had the political will to do what was right. In fact, he said, instead of driving away squatters, Philippine presidents even gave away the property of the PNR to illegal settlers, instead of relocating them to other areas to allow the smooth flow of traffic.


There are at least 1,800 regular employees at the PNR, half of whom would be retiring in the next five years, according to Cruz, but all of them are facing a bleak future owing to the huge debt of the PNR to the GSIS.


The GSIS, through its president, Winston Garcia, has asked Jose Maria Sarasola III to remit the employees’ contributions. Employees complained that because the GSIS has not received any contribution from the PNR, their request for salary loans and other benefits as government employees had been denied.


Last year four PNR employees retired from government service, and their only hope to get their retirement benefits is for the PNR management to settle its obligation.


According to Cruz, even without subsidy from the national government, the PNR can use some of its resources to improve the train facilities. It is the second richest government corporation, agency or department in terms of real estate property, next to the Armed Forces of the Philippines.


It owns 48 million square meters of land all over the country, but much of them have been occupied by squatters, and some were actually given up for the purpose of human settlement, among others.


Such resources, he said, could be used to resuscitate the dying institution and nurse it back to health and start a good employee-employer relationship by remitting the GSIS contributions of the employees.


Strong Republic Transit System
The Strong Republic Transit System (SRTS), envisioned by President Arroyo, aims to maximize the use of the existing and new railways for fast, safe and effective means of transportation to compliment the envisioned MRT and LRT loops.


The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) also plans to implement a single-journey ticketing system to improve its services to the riding public.


Under the SRTS, a modern railway system will be built almost simultaneously in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao to serve the people, move cargo, link and fuse economies and societies, while building new communities along the railways for the people living in Metro Manila.


Like the LRT and MRT projects, the railways rehabilitation and modernization projects are all part of a strategy geared toward development. The grand plan is expected to affect those in the transport sector, particularly those who depend on the operations of Metro Manila passenger buses and jeepneys, tricycles and pedicabs. Ironically, however, there’s no grand plan for those who, sooner or later, would lose their livelihood.

Among the government’s proposed projects to improve the railways system are the Northrail Project, the South Manila Commuter Rail Project, the PNR Main Line South, the Panay Railways Rehabilitation Project and the Mindanao Railways Project. They cover a total amount of P40 billion and were personally endorsed by Speaker Jose C. de Venecia Jr. through a letter dated October 8, 2001.


President Arroyo issued Memorandum Order 46 on December 10, 2001, directing the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) to relocate and provide alternative housing sites for the informal dwellers within the PNR right-of-way in areas to be affected by the PNR rehabilitation and modernization.


She also issued Memorandum 48 directing the DOTC to oversee the projects’ implementation. Three years after, however, not much has been done and accomplished.


Some 600 squatter families living along the PNR tracks in Sangandaan, Caloocan, have been relocated, after the HUDCC demolished the shanties. Residents offered little resistance, and soon cooperated with the government. But not for long. The relocation of the squatters in Malabon was stopped early last year, apparently as the election drew near. No local official or the sitting President, who aspired for an extension of her term dared act to displease a voter.


The problem of squatters
The Northrail Project, funded by the Export-Import Bank of China and the Chinese government, has been delayed again for more than a year owing to the problem brought about by the squatters. The project’s proponent, the North Luzon Railways Corp. is already fretting because of the financial losses it has incurred, owing to the delay.


The concerned government agencies once again failed to relocate the squatters in Malabon City and Valenzuela City. The government also failed to relocate squatters in other areas to be affected by its various projects, apparently because of its inefficiency.


A relocation site, a 12-hectare property in Tanza, Navotas, which was acquired by the local government of Malabon in partnership with the HUDCC and the National Housing Authority (NHA), was found to be unfit for human settlement, as the place is flood-prone and sinks at the slightest fall of rain or during high tide.


The property is near a river, and was a fishpond sold at an overpriced amount to the local government by a friend of the mayor.


The anomalous land deal led to the 90-day suspension last year of the mayor of Malabon, Amado Vicencio, which was imposed by no less than President Arroyo.


Newly elected mayor Canuto Oreta has created a committee to look into the problem and find a suitable relocation site for the Malabon PNR squatters. There are around 2,800 squatter families in four Malabon barangays who would be affected by the project.


In Valenzuela City, newly elected mayor Sherwin Gatchalian is also faced with the problem of looking for an in-city relocation site for its more than 7,000 squatter families who would be affected by the project.


At least 10,000 to 15,000 more are expected to be relocated from seven Bulacan towns, who would be displaced by the project’s Phase I, which covers work from Sangandan in Caloocan to Calumpit, Bulacan.


No matter how many of the squatters are relocated by the government, more of them would mushroom in a continuing cycle. Obviously, people need work and where there is work there people would go.


Somehow, the government needs to find a formula to stop this vicious cycle if it is to keep the railway projects in the right track and return the glory days of the train transportation.

Benham Rise: New ecological frontier

By Jonathan L. Mayuga

(Published in the Business Mirror, May 29, 2016) 

http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/benham-rise-new-ecological-frontier-2/

Conclusion 

Conservation

According to Oceana Philippines, the highly prized Pacific bluefin tuna spawns in the western Pacific, including the Benham Rise.

Quoting members of the team that explored the Benham Rise, including Jose Ingles of World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)-Philippines, Oceana Philippines said in a news release there is a huge potential for ecosystems preservation in the Benham Bank to protect commercially valuable fish species. The big-eye tuna is already overfished, Ingles said, and protecting the Benham Bank can be the country’s “contribution to the global economy.”

Jay Batongbacal, director of UP’s Institute for Maritime Affairs and Law of the Sea who was also among the forum resource persons, was quoted by Oceana as saying that with its wealth of marine resources, there is a need to craft a management framework for the Benham Rise.

One of the options being considered is to propose the declaration of the Benham Rise as a marine-managed area, with the Benham Bank as the core zone with protected status, and the rest as exploration areas.

Coral reef

Oceana Philippines’s Marianne Pan-Saniano, a marine scientist, said the Benham Bank, is blanketed with coral assemblages, sponges and algae. She added in a news release that organisms in what is known as the mesophotic zone, found at depths of up to 150 meters, can tolerate low-light penetration. She said the underwater plateau serves as a refuge and nursery for many economically important fish.

Marine scientists have found more than 50 species of fish and a thick cover of tiered plate corals were also found during the 2014 oceanographic exploration of the Benham Bank, which was funded by the Philippine Council for Agriculture and Natural Resources Research and Development of the Department of Science and Technology. The dive that lasted for 25 minutes was able to film at a depth of 50 meters, Oceana said.

“There is a lot to be discovered when we do extensive research,” she said.

Sophisticated gadget

As scientists explore the Benham Bank anew, Director Theresa Mundita Lim of the Biodiversity Management Bureau (BMB) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) expects the discovery of more exciting marine species.

“With new and more sophisticated technology, we expect to get a vivid picture of the species of fish and other marine life,” Lim said.  

Oceana Philippines will provide the baited remote underwater vehicle system (BRUVS) to measure fish population during the exploration. BRUVS is currently one of the most common technologies used worldwide for counting and measuring the length of fish.

With a remotely operated vehicle, and technical diver-videographers in a forthcoming expedition will allow scientists to film the marine resources in the Benham Bank more extensively, Oceana Philippines said.

Marine biologist Euan Harvey said BRUVS uses footage from two cameras attached to a frame with fish-bait at the center, and especially licensed software to analyze the maximum number of fish seen at any onetime. BRUVS is useful in studying deeper reefs and doing long-term research for a wide range of fish habitats. 

Biodiversity conservation

Lim said the pooling of resources is still ongoing. This includes identification of more sophisticated gadget or equipment, such as underground cameras, to be used during the exploration.

“We expect a report from UP-MSI. We need to get inputs about the condition underneath,” she said.

Lim said the exploration in the Benham Rise is not confined to the number or the kind of fish species that can be found there.

“It’s not just about the fish.  It’s also about other living organisms. The corals and other marine species thriving in the Benham Rise will help us come up with an idea of how rich is the marine biodiversity in [the area],” Lim, the country’s top biodiversity official, said in an interview on Wednesday.

According to Lim, during exploration, scientists will be able to help the DENR-BMB build a more accurate baseline data in the Benham Rise region. 

Protection

“We need to know the species we need to protect Lim,” said. “One of the options being explored is to declare a portion as a protected area. But there is a process in declaring a protected area. We are aware that there are other resources that can be developed in the Benham Rise. We need to balance it to identify or determine the best management option for the Benham Rise,” Lim said.

Establishing protected areas needs an extensive resource assessment, including the biodiversity that thrives in the area, she said.

She said declaring a portion of the Benham Rise a protected area will depend on the exploration report.  “If the best use is to protect the marine biodiversity, then the option is to declare it as a protected area. But we would like to listen to other agencies with stake in the Benham Rise, like the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, MGB [Mines and Geosciences Burea] and the DOE,” she said. According to Lim, the plan for another visit to the Benham Rise will be conducted by a composite team, which includes marine geologists, fisheries expert and marine biologists.   

“Although we have preliminary information available because of previous explorations, it is best to validate these information toward deciding on what will be the best management option for the Benham Rise,” she added.

Excellent cover of coral reefs

An abstract of a poster prepared by scientists who earlier explored the Benham Rise, entitled “Exploring Mesophotic Depths off Philippine Sea: Coral Reefs on Benham Bank Seamount,” revealed that the reefs on the summit 50 meters to 55 meters deep had excellent cover, estimated to be between 75 percent and 100 percent, of mostly Porites rus, which appeared as tiered, thick, rigid and foliose plates.

These species of coral are heavily collected for the aquarium trade. 

Over 60 species of bony and cartilaginous fish were also recorded. Of these, 26 have high commercial value. Also, Halimeda spp, a genus of green macroalgae, is dominant. Other classes observed are epiphytes, or plant that grows harmlessly upon another plant.

The scientists observed that while the account of benthic biodiversity appears less when compared to shallower fringing reefs of the country’s Pacific seaboard, much of the Benham Bank remains to be uncovered. 

“It is very important to explore the Benham Rise, because there are other interests in the area. It should be an integrated assessment of the territory so that we will know what we are bound to gain or lose,” Lim said.

Once a portion of the Benham Rise was declared a protected area, she said, the territory will undergo a more stringent protection mechanism. 

“If it’s going to be declared a protected area, it will be an executive decision, hence resources will not rely only upon the BMB. We expect other agencies to help. It means all resources of the national government, including the Department of National Defense, for its protection, will be tapped,” she said.

 

Benham Rise: New ecological frontier

By Jonathan L. Mayuga

Published in the Business Mirror, May 22, 2016

http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/benham-rise-new-ecological-frontier/ 

First of two parts

SCIENTISTS from government agencies and the private sector are scheduled to hold next week an interagency oceanographic exploration in the Benham Rise Region (BRR)—the country’s newest territory 250 kilometers off Aurora and Isabela provinces—in order to further explore the Benham Bank, and discover its secrets.

Experts and other stakeholders are pooling their resources for the exploration, with the hope of coming up with an informed decision on how to best manage the new Philippine territory, which is bigger than Luzon, Samar and Leyte combined. The shallowest portion of the underground at the Benham Bank is estimated to be 35 meters from the surface. It is believed to be rich in oil, natural gas and other minerals, such as manganese. 

This will be the fourth official oceanographic exploration to be conducted in the area, after the territorial claim by the Philippines was approved by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos) in April 2012. The Unclos, an international agreement in which the Philippines is a party, defines the limits of territorial seas of countries where they can exploit marine resources.

The inclusion of the BRR in the country’s continental shelf and territory was approved by the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf of the United Nations on April 12, 2012, including part of the seabed that extends beyond 200 nautical miles from the country’s baseline, covering a seabed area of 52,340 square miles. The government hopes to benefit from the massive mineral and gas deposits in the region to achieve complete energy sufficiency.

Oil and gas

Since 2013 various government agencies have been visiting the BRR to explore the territory and possibly exploit its natural wealth. As early as 2014, the Department of Energy (DOE), through its Oil Industry Management Bureau, wanted it explored for oil, excited of its potential economic benefits. The militant group Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya-Pilipinas), meanwhile, welcomed the government’s opening of the Benham Rise to fishermen, but warned that any attempt to exploit the rich fishing ground will be met with strong resistance.

“Any attempt to exploit and destroy the abundant waters of Benham Rise, like rampant exploration of oil and gas perpetrated by foreign and local large oil firms, is a big no for the fishers,” Salvador France, Pamalakaya vice chairman, told the BusinessMirror in an e-mail message.

Commercial fishing

Fishermen in Aurora province have been reporting that they were also seeing foreign poachers and fishing fleets, usually owned by Japan, Taiwan and South Korea, roaming around the area.

Pamalakaya criticized the government for neglecting to prevent foreign poachers from exploiting the waters that are supposedly for the Filipino fishermen.

“The government and concerned agencies should block the entry of any foreign-owned fishing fleets to give way to small fishermen and other local fish producers to promote domestic consumption.”

“We welcome the government’s eagerness to open up and explore the abundance of the Benham Rise, but we hope that its real score is not to peddle it to corporate giants who blatantly destroy our natural resources for their profit at the expense of people’s livelihood and environmental degradation,” France said.

Fishing ground

Research teams from the Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (DA-BFAR) have been visiting the BRR for years as part of their efforts to determine the territory’s potential to boost fisheries production. 

Being a traditional fishing ground and a spawning area for commercially viable fish, environmental groups see the need to come up with a sustainable management framework for the BRR to give stakeholders strong participation. More than oil, natural gas and other mineral resources, the country’s top fishery official sees the BRR as a major fishing ground that needs to be protected.

Preliminary research conducted by scientists as early as 2013 revealed that the Benham Bank is a spawning ground of assorted fish, including the Pacific Bluefin tuna.

“Two weeks ago, our research vessel [MV DA-BFAR] set sail for the Benham Rise. Next week the DA-BFAR team will go back to the area with scientists from UP Marine Science Institute [UP MSI],” Director Asis G. Perez, head of the DA-BFAR, told the BusinessMirror in a telephone interview on Tuesday.

Unexplored

Speaking mostly in Filipino, Perez said the vastly unexplored region, with experts managing to get only a glimpse of what the new territory has to offer during previous explorations, has the potential of increasing the country’s annual fisheries production.

He said it needed to be further explored to be able to come up with a science-based management framework that will ensure sustainability of fish production, particularly tuna. This week, he said, the plan is to get more valuable information, hopefully, a clearer picture of what needs to be done by the government.

“What we were able to know so far is very little compared to what we need to learn. We will continue our exploration to get a complete picture of the Benham Rise. From there, we will be able to craft a suitable management framework for the benefit of our fishermen,” he said in mixed Filipino  and English.

Benefits

As early as 2013, fish aggregating devices have been put up on  the Benham Rise, Perez said.

Fishermen are now enjoying increased productivity by using ropes and biomass like coconut leaves to attract schools of fish, and eventually larger fish with high commercial value, he said. 

Schooling or shoaling, the process of attracting small fishes, will attract bigger fish in one area, such as tuna, which demand or domestic consumption and export is huge, will make fishing a breeze, he said.

“So far, we have anecdotal reports that fishermen from Aurora and nearby areas are now benefiting from these fish-aggregating device we have put up,” he said.

Hot spot

Environmentalists pushing for sustainable management of the Benham Rise also warned that the area is an emerging fisheries hot spot owing to poachers from neighboring countries, unless a more stringent protection mechanism is adopted.

Participants of a multistakeholder forum cosponsored by not-for-profit Oceana Philippines at the University of the Philippines last month resounded the call for its protection and conservation against overfishing and other destructive fishing methods.

For environmental advocates, exploring new ecological frontiers within the country’s territory offers an opportunity to craft a management framework before losing the natural resources from overexploitation and unbriddled development that will potentially harm the network of marine ecosystem in the vast territory, conservation-advocacy group Oceana Philippines Vice President Gloria Estenzo-Ramos told the BusinessMirror in an interview on Tuesday.

“For us, of course, we see an opportunity of leaning toward ocean conservation. This is a new territory, and there is no management framework yet for the Benham Rise. Exploring the Benham Rise, will help the government and other stakeholders to come up with an idea on how it is best protected,” she said.

In May 2014 scientists from the UP MSI were able to reach the bottom of the Benham Bank, the shallowest portion of the Benham Rise, and were able to take photographs and videos of what is beneath its pristine blue waters.

Using a not-so-high-tech gadget, such as a waterproof digital camera, scientists were able to document and record the exciting new discoveries in the Benham Bank, which is now being eyed to be declared as a “no-take zone.”

To be Concluded