Aumentado wants Danajon Reef declared a natural park

TAGBILARAN CITY, Philippines — Representative Erico Aumentado (2nd district, Bohol) has filed House Bill 5145 seeking to put the Danajon Double Barrier Reef (DDBR) a protected area under the category of a natural park.

In his explanatory note, Aumentado cited Danajon Bank as the only double barrier reef in the Philippines and one of the only six documented double barrier reefs in the world.

"It is a unique geological formation which has been carved for over 6,000 years of coral development, hence, it is a larger and better-defined structure than other known double barrier reefs in the world," he said. 

Danajon is located off the coast of northern Bohol from mid-Cebu Island to the shores of Southern Leyte and lies within the jurisdiction of Tubigon, Clarin, Inabanga, Buenavista, Getafe, Bien Unido, Ubay, Pres. Carlos P. Garcia and Talibon towns in Bohol; Lapu-Lapu City and Cordova town in Cebu; Matalom, Bato, Hilongos and Hindang towns in Leyte and Maasin City in Southern Leyte.

With a total shoreline of 691 kilometers, the DDBR consists of the Caubyan Outer Reef and the Calituban Inner Reef. Caubyan of Cebu spans towards Southern Leyte, while Calituban Reef of Bohol stretches up to Maasin City.

"It has been a home to a variety of fish, shellfish, crustaceans and other invertebrates and algae species, it is historically the most important source of biodiversity in Central and Eastern Visayas – one of the richest fishing grounds in the Philippines until this status became endangered by illegal fishing, poaching of corals, rapid population growth and other destructive activities in the area," said Aumentado.

The congressman warned that "unless timely intervention and measures are implemented, the DDBR will continue to deteriorate thus, a sound policy for its sustainable use and management should be adopted."

Former agriculture secretary Salvador Escudero III had organized the four provinces abutting into the DDBR seawaters into the Cebu, Leyte, Bohol and Southern Leyte (CELEBOSOLE) Growth Quadrangle for food security and eco-tourism.

The strategy was meant for LGUs, whose jurisdictions overlap one another, to co-manage the 273 square kilometers seawaters they circumscribe to stop its degradation and adopt measures for its economic development.

"It is imperative that the DDBR be declared a protected area under the category of a natural park pursuant to Republic Act 7586 or the National Integrated Protected Area System (NIPAS) Act, to protect and preserve it, considering its enormous revenue generating potential for ecotourism and biodiversity of marine resources vital to the fishing industry and food security," Aumentado said.

The proposed law would ban the following: 1) possession or use of blasting caps, explosives or cyanides within the DDBR or its buffer zone; 2) fishing, hunting, collecting, catching, capturing, wounding, killing, destroying, transporting or possessing and any disturbance of protected species of corals, plants and animals; 3) disposal or dumping of non biodegradable, toxic, hazardous materials and other prohibited substances; 4) fishing using spear and submerged underwater breathing apparatus, trawling equipment or any other equipment prohibited by the Fisheries Code of 1998; 5) alteration, removal, destruction of boundary marks or signs and coral reefs. - THE FREEMAN