‘Apology for Tubbataha not enough’
DAVOS, Switzerland — “Excuse me, we sustained damage. Do we leave
it at that?” President Aquino said on
Friday.
The United States Navy will be
held answerable under Philippine laws for the damage caused by the grounding of
a US 7th Fleet warship in Tubbataha Reefs, Mr. Aquino said.
Talking with Filipino reporters
after the World Economic Forum meeting here, Mr. Aquino said he had ordered
Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya to investigate the grounding of
the minesweeper USS Guardian in the Unesco-World Heritage protected area in the
Sulu Sea on Jan. 17.
The Philippine government’s
priority, however, is to remove the ship from the reef to prevent further
damage to the marine environment.
“How did they actually get into a
protected area? How did their navigation systems, [supposedly among the most
sophisticated in the world], fail?” Mr.
Aquino said.
Asked whether the apology issued
by the US government would suffice, the President said it only showed that the
United States respected the Philippines as a sovereign state and was “very
careful” about its sensitivities.
“But that doesn’t exempt them
from having to comply with our laws,” Mr. Aquino said.
The Avenger-class USS Guardian, a
63-meter, 1,300-ton mine countermeasure vessel belonging to the US 7th Fleet,
ran aground on the south atoll of the Tubbataha Reefs while sailing to Indonesia after making a
port call at Puerto Princesa in Palawan.
US apology
US officials have apologized for
the accident and the damage it has caused to the Tubbataha Reefs, which the
Philippines considers a national treasure.
But for President Aquino
expressions of regret, while appreciated, are nearly not enough, as the US Navy
has caused such a big mess and the violation of Philippine laws cannot be
ignored, even for the sake of friendship.
“Our laws are very specific,” Mr.
Aquino said. “When they got the diplomatic clearance to pass through our
waters, this is a recognized, internationally recognized zone, that is, like an
exclusive zone. They violated it. There are penalties.”
But the process will come in
stages. The top priority, Mr. Aquino said, is to remove the stuck ship and then
to assess the damage.
At the same time, the President
said he would like to know how the accident happened so that measures could be
taken to prevent repetitions.
“But the other thing is the
damage, the fines that will be levied,” Mr. Aquino said.
Why are you there?
Philippine environmentalists and
lawmakers have demanded to know why the warship proceeded to enter the marine
park, 128 kilometers from Puerto Princesa, despite warnings from park
authorities that it was entering a restricted area.
The US Navy said a navigational
map that misplaced the Tubbataha Reefs or possible errors in the Guardian’s
navigational system caused the ship to stray into the protected area, famous
for its magnificent marine life and coral that rival Australia’s Great Barrier
Reef.
Strong winds and big waves have
been tossing the vessel around for days, damaging 1,000 square meters of reef,
according to the Philippine Navy and environmental officials.
Salvage operation
Philippine and American
authorities have decided to remove the Guardian by lifting the badly damaged
ship off the water and loading it onto a barge.
Two heavy lift ship-borne cranes
are arriving from Singapore at the end of the month to remove the vessel and
take it to a shipyard somewhere in the region for repairs.
The US Navy has finished
defueling the Guardian, with a Malaysian tugboat, the Vos Apollo, removing
57,000 liters of diesel fuel from the ship on Friday.
The salvage operation is expected
to start, at the earliest, Feb. 1.
Damages
Transportation Secretary Abaya, a
graduate of the US Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland, said earlier that the
Philippine government would lodge a complaint for damages.
Angelique Songco, the marine park
superintendent, said the damage to the reef could not be assessed until the
ship was removed. But the Philippine government, she said, imposes a fine of
$300 for every square meter of damaged coral.
In 2005 the environmental group
Greenpeace was fined nearly $7,000 after its ship struck coral in Tubbataha.
While apologizing for the mess
caused by the Guardian, the US government has said nothing about paying for the
damage to the reef.
As usual, after the eruption of a
controversy involving Americans, left-leaning groups are calling for a review
of the Philippines’ Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) with the United States.
Asked about it, Mr. Aquino
replied, “What does the VFA have to do with the Americans’ going to Tubbataha?
There are no [joint military exercises there]. [T]his is really a question of
violating certain ecological laws that we already have in the books.” With a
report from Tarra Quismundo
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