DENR seizes salvaged metal from WWII ship

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has confiscated some 200 metric tons of scrap metal, valued at more than P1 million, believed to have been salvaged from a World War II shipwreck off Leyte.

Reports reaching the DENR main office in Quezon City revealed that the confiscation of the scrap metal occurred at the Ouano wharf in Cebu last Nov. 2.

According to the DENR, the seized cargo was consigned to Lilia Dapuran Marketing, which is also holder of a shipwreck/sunken vessel recovery permit issued by former secretary Angelo Reyes in June 2007.

But DENR-Region 7 executive director Leonardo Sibbaluca said the company transported the scrap metal from the sunken ship in Leyte to Cebu without the required transport documents and inventory of the scrap materials from DENR-Region 8.

DENR’s Mines and Geosciences bureau Region 7 director Roger de Dios insisted that even when the firm had a shipwreck and sunken vessel permit, it is still liable for violating the rules, particularly DENR Administrative Order 2002-04, which outlines the rules governing the issuance of permits for treasure hunting, shipwreck/sunken vessel recovery and disposition of recovered treasures/valuable cargoes, including hoarded and hidden treasures.

Last month, however, the Philippine Commission on Sports Scuba Diving (PCSSD) asked the DENR to immediately issue a cease-and-desist order to prevent the salvaging of the WWII era shipwreck off Leyte that would adversely affect the livelihood of at least a thousand fishermen families along the coast.

The salvaging operations, previously halted due to wide media coverage, have reportedly been “renewed and pursued with vigor”— much to the dismay of local residents.

In a letter to Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Lito Atienza dated Oct. 16, PCSSD Commissioner Yvette Lee said that salvaging operations returned immediately after Reyes was transferred to the Department of Energy (DoE) two months ago.

 “I am appealing to you, in behalf of all these marginal fishermen, to issue an immediate cease-and-desist order to the salvaging activities and the transport of the metal that they have already taken out and to order an investigation into this matter,” Lee stated in her letter to Atienza.

According to Lee, she was contacted three years ago by a group of bantay-dagat volunteers based off MacArthur, Leyte regarding the attempted salvaging of the WWII era shipwreck, which has been serving as underwater Historical Tourism Site and fisheries reserve for families along the 10 coastal barangays of San Pedro Bay.

Lee said these designations for the WWII era shipwreck were covered by two separate resolutions drafted and signed by MacArthur town mayor Leonardo Leria, who later revoked them.

Following wide media coverage, the salvaging operations were stopped. The salvaging firm then requested for a permit to salvage.

But volunteers insisted that the shipwreck is a Historical Tourism Site and more importantly, a fisheries reserve that was serving the needs of over a thousand families along the coast.

“The permit they were carrying is for treasure hunting. The terms and conditions are clear and simple. It is to look for hidden treasure. Nothing in it says anything about salvaging the metal of the wreck. There is actually a different permit for this. Simply put, they are using the permit for another activity than what was specified,” Lee said.

Lee has estimated that so far, metal scraps collected from the shipwreck that were already loaded on the barge have been valued at P7 million (P14.95 per kilo).

“There is a provision in the terms and conditions of the permit that allows the DENR secretary to cancel the permit if it is in the public’s interest,” Lee said.