4 governors sign covenant to protect Visayan Sea Triangle

LAPU-LAPU CITY, Philippines – Officials of four provinces in the Visayas yesterday signed a covenant to rescue the alarming situation in the Visayan Sea Triangle.

The covenant was signed at Shangri-La’s Mactan Resort and Spa in Lapu-Lapu City after the closing of the two-day Visayan Sea Summit.

Those who signed the covenant were Governors Alfredo Marañon (Negros Occidental), Gwendolyn Garcia (Cebu), Arthur Defensor (Iloilo), and Rizalina Seachon-Lanete (Masbate).

The signing of the covenant is a follow-up to the commitment which the governors signed last year in Sagay City, Negros Occidental.

Provincial board members, mayors and other officials of the four provinces also signed the covenant.

The covenant aims to protect, conserve and rehabilitate the coastal and marine resources of the Visayan Marine Triangle so future generations may continue to benefit from them.

Last year, officials of the four provinces made a commitment to promote the establishment of marine protected areas, evaluate and restore suitable areas for fish breeding and nursery grounds, provide livelihood assistance to residents of coastal communities, ensure the sustainable harvest and utilization of coastal and marine resources in the Visayan Sea, and conduct joint compliance and enforcement activities.

The million-hectare Visayan Sea is a known sanctuary of 488 of 500 endangered coral species, and 12,000 species of seashells in the Philippines.

It covers the territorial waters of northern Cebu, northeastern Iloilo, northern Negros, and southern Masbate.

“It would be our respective provinces’ mutual and optimal gain to jointly plan and act on the protection of the Visayan Sea, particularly in the implementation and enforcement of basic fishery laws in the area,” Marañon said.

Environmental lawyer Antonio Oposa lauded the success of the two-day Visayan Sea Summit and expressed hope that the problem in the Visayan Sea Triangle would be addressed. – Freeman News Service