Black corals, the Philippines’ blood diamond?

CEBU, Philippines -  There are 1,314 coral species in the entire world, 488 of which are found in the Philippines, says records from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

The country’s corals cover at least 26,000 square kilometers, according to studies, but Mundita Lim of the Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau said only about four percent of them are still in pristine condition, the rest are either blasted off or were already uprooted.

There are laws like the Fisheries Code of 1998, which were passed to safeguard the marine resources from exploitation and other forms of destructive harvesting, for the future generations to come. The corals, being like forests, are after all an abundant source of food. Yet, commercialism seems to supersede this purpose.

And while sea products like fish, turtles, clams and others are the most common targets, lately, it was found that corals, especially the black ones, are also “trending” in the illegal fishers’ list of priorities to catch.

Why the black ones? Anna Oposa and her Save Philippine Seas told The FREEMAN this kind of coral makes export-quality fashion accessories and home decorations. She said she saw a framed black coral hanging at a wall of a restaurant in Taiwan. That is just among the many uses of black corals, she added, some of them are reportedly shipped to Europe, China, and the USA to be made into furniture pieces, she said.

In his report for the Cebu Provincial Anti-Illegal Fishing Task Force, environmentalist Mar Guidote said a branching coral is worth at least US$ 89 in the international market. Or P800 in Sulit.com.ph, where a certain seller has posted an advertisement for a “black coral antique,” with pictures showing a black coral still perched on a rock.

It is illegal to gather and sell corals under the Fisheries Administrative Order issued by the Department of Agriculture in 2000 (in pursuant to the Fisheries Code). This order states that it is illegal to “exploit” or “export” corals. The black corals being considered “semi-precious” are covered in this order, in which Section 2 provides that it shall be “unlawful for any person or corporation to gather, possess, sell or export ordinary, precious and semi-precious corals whether in raw or in processed form.” Violators can be imprisoned from six months to two years or made to pay a fine of P2,000 to P20,000.00 or both, at the discretion of the court, and forfeiture of the subject corals.

The laws are clear, yet these do not stop the illegal trade from happening. Environmentalist Jake Miranda of Mindanao Development Authority, in his article “Black Coral-A Haunting Tree of the Sea,” said a Chinese businessman buys black corals from local fishers at P100 per kilo. Local fishers in Surigao City could horde as much as 500 kilos of these rare corals in a month, said Miranda.

The merciless rape of the marine environment is one big concern to people like Miranda, how these local fishers are doing it is another. Miranda said that while local fishers can earn up to P50,000 per month from black coral hauling, they are at the same time exposing themselves to “bends” or decompression sickness brought by careless deep diving. Black corals are in areas at least 150 feet underwater, and to reach such depth, fishermen use compressors, which are considered a dangerous stunt. One diver had allegedly died of bends, said Miranda, who operates a dive shop in Surigao City. He later on learned that apart from going 150 feet without the mandatory stopovers for decompression, these fishers would reportedly dive three or four times a day, with only less than an hour’s gap. Risking their lives for how much? P100 per kilo of black corals.

Oposa said the Philippines’ black corals may be similar to Africa’s blood diamond, where people out of poverty are forced to do the hard work but are paid less, while their financiers take home the dough.

Ronnie Silvestre, former district collector of the Bureau of Customs Port of Cebu, echoed Oposa’s statement, saying it is obviously the businessmen who are enjoying large profits in this kind of trading.

“Kinukuha ng mga mahihirap at binebenta ng mga ma-yayaman at an expensive price. Well, I have no idea how much these corals are sold outside the Philippines. But I’d assume they’re more expensive there than being sold here in the Philippines,” he said.

According to Guidote’s report, the corals bought by local traders are then shipped to other areas, some directly to their international buyers, or to other provinces like Cebu where these are either processed or prepared for another shipment abroad.

In May 2011, for example, an estimated P35 million worth of marine resources including black corals were intercepted by Customs personnel in Manila. In June of the same year, P15 million worth of black corals from Zamboanga City were also seized by BOC in Cebu port.

Silvestre said during his three-year stint, from their May 2011 operation, they confiscated 168 sacks or a total of 375 pieces of black corals, labeled as scrap metals, from Zamboanga City. The shipment was labeled for “Cebu Junkshop,” which, the BOC later on found out, did not exist. A case was filed but Silvestre said that since there was no claimant, it was dismissed, while the black corals were forfeited and were turned over to the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR).

“Forfeited na ang black corals. Unfortunately walang nag-claim. Fake kasi yung Cebu Junkshop so walang ma-prosecute,” he said. Silvestre explained that giving a fake consignee is one of modus operandi of these illegal traders. He believes that the items would have been exporter had they not intercepted it, based on a tip they received.

“If the items were not intercepted, our information had it that these corals were to be exported. But I’m not sure if these will be exported in original state or processed here in Cebu,” he added, while explaining that since Zamboanga does not have containerized cargoes to be used for export, these shall eventually have to be transshipped to Cebu or other international ports like Davao. According to Guidote’s report, in the 1960s, the Philippines was the second exporter of unprocessed corals.

And while Silvestre could not say if these corals are either processed in Cebu before being shipped to other areas, Guidote’s report showed that Cebu is the “major processing zone” of corals and shells from Southern Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.

This could be supported through the presence of processing facilities in the province, his report said.

Past records also showed that Cebu was the source ofcorals that were intercepted in different parts of the world. In 1991, for example, 17 tons of corals intercepted by UK Customs at Tilbury docks on board a Soviet freighter originated from the Philippines.

The company Tricott HM Customs and Excise was found in possession of “freshly harvested corals” allegedly supplied by Cebu. In 1997, a 40-foot container van of corals and seashells was seized by US Fish and Wildlife Service, wherein a federal jury convicted Petros Leventis for illegal importation of corals to Tampa, Florida, and Esther Flores of Cebu two years later. In 2005, another 40-foot van of shells and corals declared as seaweeds from Zamboanga City was seized by Navy and BOC-Cebu inside the Sulpicio Lines compound.

In early 2011, authorities confiscated truckloads of illegally-harvested corals in Punta Engaño, Lapu-Lapu City while another P2 million worth of corals were also seized in the same area by the Provincial Task Force against Illegal Fishing on the same year. Only a few of the violators were, however, slapped with criminal cases.

Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Paz Radaza said they have been constantly monitoring their city to ensure that they will not be used again as stopover for illegal shipments like black corals.

Radaza believes the dried corals seized in Punta Engaño were not hauled from their very own seas, saying they no longer have such kind of corals. Nevertheless, she said her administration has strengthened its campaign by augmenting personnel of its Task Force Kalikasan, whose main task is to watch over Lapu-Lapu’s environment.

“Being a coastal city, we are more on eco-tourism here. We gain a lot from it, not only jobs and food for our people, but income for our coffers as well. The best way to maintain that is to make sure our natural resources are preserved,” Radaza said. Lapu-Lapu City’s annual income is pegged at more than P1 billion, including its internal revenue allotment, and a huge chunk of it is generated from its eco-tourism industry.

The TF Kalikasan, which is composed of policemen, is tasked to apprehend violators of the environmental laws. Radaza said with this special group and the active participation of deputized environment wardens from their villages, she no longer hears reports of black coral sightings in their area.

An accomplishment report of TF Kalikasan dated May to August 2012 is clear of any black coral activities. Most of the crimes committed were transporting of Mactan stones (illegal as per local ordinance), compressor diving, transporting of cackle shells and dried starfish among others.PO3 Kent Lisen, team leader of the group, said, however, his team is continuously monitoring areas believed to still be in the illegal trade of corals in hot spots like Punta Engaño. This is just as well, as Oposa said in spite of the repeated seizures in Punta Engaño, her group believes that the operations on black corals have “definitely not been stopped” and that these are “still very active.” She said she is set to meet with the BFAR, the local police and Asian Wildlife Enforcement Network representatives to talk about the matter.

BFAR - 7 regional director Andres Bojos said most of the shipments intercepted in Cebu are from Mindanao, most especially from Zamboanga City. He said these black corals are abundant in the Southern part of Mindanao and Palawan.

“These black corals are part of our marine ecosystem. They have their contribution to biodiversity. But sadly, some of us take that for granted for some money. We should not also forget that we have the laws. These are endangered and rare species, we need to preserve them,” Bojos said. He said agencies like the BOC have been deputized to help them implement the laws protecting the environment.

For his part, Silvestre said he sees the need to “get more stricter monitoring” when it comes to transporting marine products, and that there should be “interagency” coordination among concerned groups to ensure that no marine products like corals are shipped anywhere in the country, or abroad.

According to scientists, the black corals grow the slowest among other deep-sea corals, with a growth of only 8 to 22 micrometers per year.

“If we remain complacent baka maubos na ang mga marine lives d’yan,” Silvestre said. — /QSB (FREEMAN)