New law protects Tubbataha

MANILA, Philippines - The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) hailed the signing into law of Republic Act 10067 which gives further protection to the Tubbataha Reefs of Palawan, a World Heritage site.

Environmentalists said there is so much reason to celebrate since the natural wonders of the sea 90 nautical miles Southeast of Puerto Princesa City will now be better preserved.

WWF–Philippines said RA 10067 or the Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park Act provides more permanent local management structures, fiscal autonomy and steeper penalties for violations of the Park’s rules.

The act will also vastly improve the Park’s capability to protect its marine resources and help improve catch rates in the Sulu Sea.

After eight long years of lobbying and congressional discussions, the group said RA 10067 was finally enacted into a very important environmental law.

“Tubbataha is the first and only purely marine UNESCO World Heritage Site in Southeast Asian seas,” said WWF-Philippines chief executive officer Lory Tan.

“Although the park has long been protected by a Presidential Proclamation and a determined but rather tenuous thread of stakeholder collaboration, its protected status has now been cast in stone, under the full force of a Republic Act. After years of deliberation, the final pieces have come to play,” he said.

Tan said RA 10067 provides protection for the Philippines’ most productive coral reefs nestled at the heart of the Coral Triangle.