Bill seeking to establish marine protected areas filed in Congress

By Eldie N. David

BUTUAN CITY, July 25 -- Agusan del Norte First District Rep. Lawrence “Law” Fortun has filed a bill seeking to establish the marine protected areas (MPAs) in all coastal cities and municipalities in the country.

The bill states that the State should ensure that utilization of marine resources should be sustainable. The legislative measure defines MPAs as “areas of the sea established and set aside by law, administrative regulation or any other effective means in order to conserve and protect a part of or the entire enclosed environment, through the establishment of management guidelines.” MPAs need not be contiguous and must have a “minimum size of ten (10) hectares, unless the total area of the municipal waters is fifteen (15) hectares or less, in which case the MPA shall comprise fifteen percent (15%) of the municipal waters”.

It further classifies MPAs as marine reserves, Marine Park, and marine sanctuary. Under MPAs, access to, and uses of marine resources are defined, regulated and controlled in a manner consistent with its classification.

The house bill also puts premium on citizen’s participation in protecting marine ecosystem and biodiversity through a co-management scheme. As the house bill puts it, “the State also takes cognizance of the preferred status of the citizenry as the primary users and beneficiaries of the country’s resources. As such, Filipino communities are therefore acknowledged as crucial partners in the effort to conserve and manage our natural marine resources.”

Among the salient provisions of the bill are the violations and the corresponding sanctions which states: “unless otherwise allowed in accordance with this Act, the NIPAS Act of 1992 (Republic Act No. 7586), the Philippine Fisheries Code of 1998 (Republic Act No. 8550) and the Wildlife Resources Conservation and Protection Act (Republic Act No. 9147), it shall be unlawful for any person to willfully and knowingly exploit, damage or destroy MPAs and/or any of its parts. Violators shall be subject to the applicable fines and penalties as provided for in Republic Act No. 7586, Republic Act No. 8550 and Republic Act No. 9147, and other related laws, rules and regulations.” Furthermore, the bill added that, “should a coastal LGU fail to establish an MPA as herein provided, the mayor, the vice mayor and the members of the sanggunian shall be liable for prosecution under Republic Act No. 3019, otherwise known as the “Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act” and Republic Act No. 6713, otherwise known as the “Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees”, or other applicable laws.”

Fortun said that it is about time that a clear and comprehensive law of this kind must be made if we are really serious about protecting our environment which has been denuded by both man-made and natural destruction.(Agusan del Norte/PIA-Caraga)