US Navy warship crew under fire over Tubbataha incursion

PUERTO PRINCESA CITY – Citing that the grounding of the USS Guardian is “an unfortunate incident,” the Tubbataha Reef Natural Park (TRNP) Protected Areas Management Board (PAMB) has notified the US Navy for the warship’s violantions when it made an incursion on the protected area.
In the official statement, the PAMB said the grounding incident “is an unfortunate incident. No one wanted this to happen. But the damage has been done.”
“We are duty-bound to enforce the law,” said in the official statement by Palawan Governor Abraham Kahlil B. Mitra, the chairman of the Tubbataha PAMB.
Under Republic Act 10067, the Act that established the TRNP in Palawan as a marine protected area, it is the Tubbataha PAMB’s mandate to protect, preserve and promote the resources of the reef.
Mitra said in order to fulfill the PAMB’s mandate and uphold the rule of law it issued the U.S. Navy a formal list of violations of the Act in the grounding incident involving the USS Guardian.
“We will ask them to take responsibility, and immediately pay the fines,” he said, adding this will be done as soon as assessment of the damage has been done.
Cited violations of the Act this time are for unauthorized entry; for non-payment of conservation fee; for obstruction of law enforcement officer; for damages to the reef; and for destroying resources.
These actions are being done without prejudice to the results of subsequent assessments that have yet to be done to determine the extent of damage to the park and its resources as a direct result of the grounding, as well as incidental damage arising out of the ongoing retrieval operations.
Subsequent to ship retrieval and the assessment of park damage, the Tubbataha PAMB intends to serve a second formal notice of violation to the U.S. NAVY that will quantify the estimate of destruction and the fines that must be paid.