‘No dolphin died at Ocean Adventure’

SUBIC BAY FREEPORT – Subic Bay Ocean Adventure denied yesterday that a dolphin has died at the facility, saying the Department of Environment and Natural Resources was fed with false information.

Timothy Desmond, chairman and chief executive officer of the Ocean Adventure’s "Swim with a Whale Project," said the company does not have a dolphin among its marine mammals, but whales and sea lions which, he said, are all in good health.

The company has gathered a total of 8,000 signatures from students, the academe, communities and other non-government groups supporting the Ocean Adventure project.

"If they saw in their visit here any cruelty to animals by Ocean Adventure, they would not sign these statements of support," Desmond said.

In a letter to President Arroyo, the Subic Bay Freeport Chamber of Commerce said Subic investors support the Ocean Adventure project and decried the DENR’s question of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority’s power.

"The situation undermines the statutes upon which the Subic Bay Freeport Zone was built and upon which all our businesses operate. This sets a precedent which will cause locators (particularly multinationals) to lose confidence in the stability and viability of the freeport as an investment area," the chamber said. — With Jose Rodel Clapano