Press Release
May 30, 2011

Transcript of interview with Senator Migz Zubiri,
Chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Natural Resources at the South Harbor, Port Area in Manila during the ocular inspection
of confiscated black corals and turtles

Sen.Migz: Ito ay malinaw na panggagahasa ng ating karagatan at natural resources lalong lalo na dito sa ating black corals. Mayroon na pong international ban on the trade and sale of black corals dahil napaka rare na po nito, dahil napakahirap hanapin nito, at meron din pong ban on the sale of turtles, CITES one or the (Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species) one po iyan, ibig sabihin bawal poi to ibenta, ipadala sa ibang bansa kung saan napapirma po tayo sa CITES convention. Ito po ay contraband, illegal po iyan. We should put a stop to this.

Ako po ay isang diver napakasakit sa aking kalooban na makita itong mga hayop at corals na ganito lamang at pinapatay. Itong maliit na black corals na ito takes one year for it to grow one to two milimeters long, biro mo itong maliit na black corals na ito ay almost ten years to grow and it will only take one second for the human being para kunin ito at dalhin sa ibang bansa para gawing jewelry at decoration. Dapat malaman n gating mga kababayan na napakahalaga po nitong nakuhang contraband dahil ito ay source n gating tourismo, alam nyo po, pumupunta na po mga turista sa Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia kasi medyo in tact pa ang kanilang coral resources duon, bilyon-bilyon dolyares po ang mawawala sa atin kapag naubos na po ang ating coral resources.

Pangalawa, nawawala na rin po ang ating mga isda dito sa bansa, ubos na kasi ito pong mga coral reefs ang kanilang spawning grounds for our fish kayat pag masyadong grabe ang blasting at poaching nitong coral resources wala na pong isda duon napakalayo nap o ng inaabot nila to fish umaabot na sa ibang bansa kayat ito po ay national security concern. It is our inability to feed our nation, at nagkakaproblema pa tayo sa agriculture dahil sa climate change.

Iyung mga nagsasagawa nitong panggagahasa n gating karagatan ay dapat ma life imprisonment ito, should be charged with heinous crime because this has a long term effect on our economy and our people.

Ngayong araw na ito magbibigay po ako ng privilege speech sa nakita natin dito as chairman of the senate committee on environment and natural resources at by Wednesday we will conduct a hearing titingnan natin po kung sino itong mga consignee nitong mga contraband na ito, san ito galing, we will make a rough estimate of which areas of the Philippines san ito harvest, i believe this is southern part of Mindanao all the way to the Tubbataha area, so pag Tubbataha iyan that's another illegal act kasi NIPAS area na ito at may batas na po ito. So that's additional crime to the perpetrators.

We will not relax on this issue, we will come out with committee report, we will name names. I salute the Burea of Customs, sabi nila malabo ang customs pero saludo po ako sa kanila and we hope and pray that we can find more in all the other ports in the Philippines, let us support them. They have been doing a good job and we commend them for this.

Alam mo i would put the blame on local government, iyung BFAR iilan lamang sila, napakakonti po ng tao ng BFAR at DENR, the job of protecting our coastal marine resources is under our local government units kaya po sila nag set up ng bantay dagat, at dito sa Luzon medyo in tact na ang bantay dagat ng ibat ibang LGUs kaya dito sila nagpoach sa area ng Mindanao, Sulu sea na medyo open pa. I would presume, it would be safe to say that at the very least it would be neglect (for the LGUs).

We should also support the Coast Guard, let's give them fast patrol cars...para may support sa Sulu sea area. But the job falls on the hands of the LGUs dahil ibabagsak itong mga contraband na ito sa mga port area and these port areas should be supervised by the LGUs. For example sa GEnsan maliit lang at private pa ang iba eh syempre alam ng mga mayors yan so we should investigate the participation of LGUs all the way to the barangay level.

We will invite the Bureau of Customs para bigyan linaw kung saan papunta at nanggaling itong mga contraband, BFAR para alamin ang programa nila to stop this, DENR under PAWB, Coast Guard, PNP, DILG at kung saan ang locality at malalaman ito, the mayors involved, alamin natin impossible hindi nila alam, at hindi kita ng barangay officials, tanod eh di ibig sabihin kasabwat sila.

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