#p.cabauatan

by: Patricia Cabauatan

Just a month ago, two containers that were declared as raw rubber was intercepted in Manila by the Bureau of Customs.  The vans contained 163 stuffed hawkbills and green turtles; 21,169 pieces of black corals; 7,340 pieces of Trumpet and Helmet shells; and 196 kg of sea whips—all threatened species that cannot be collected or traded. (Inquirer.net)  All these worth P35 million.  These were taken from the coast of Cotabato, and according to Protected Area and Wildlife Bureau Director Theresa Mundita Lim, the damage of the poachers on the coral reef complex is five times the size of Manila or 190.8 sq. kilometers.

The people who are responsible for this “rape of the ocean” are Exequiel Navarro – consignee of smuggled black corals and turtles, Olivia Li – proprietress of Zamboanga’s Li and Lim Trading and alleged shipper of the contraband, her husband Lee Yu Ming, alias Joe Pring.  There are others who were charged by the Department of Justice and these are: Kim L. Atillano, owner of the Zamboanga-based JKA Transport System, the cargo forwarding company tapped by the shipper; Ireneo Penuliar and other yet-to-be identified employees of the Manila branch of the JKA Transport System; and officers/owners of Vicky’s Trucking, the company which transported the misdeclared cargo from the shipper’s warehouse to the Port of Zamboanga. (Inquirer.net)

The couple were failed to be arrested as they were able to leave the country for Hong Kong last June 7.  Instead of attending the hearing by the Senate committee on environment and natural resources.  And now that they “escaped”, the government has put them in the immigrant watch list and has asked Zamboanga City prosecutors Gladdy Bernabe and Alfredo Jimenez Jr to explain why they failed to resolve the case of Li and Lee.

So far, this is what has happened on the Black Corals issue and it has not been mentioned for many weeks now.  When the issue dies down, we forget it like it never happened.  People point fingers and blaming it on others, but that is not exactly the problem.  Unfortunately, we humans comprise most if not the whole problem.  We rob other species of their food and home.  We take nature’s treasures, we profit and depend on it, but we don’t replenish it.  The black corals poaching in Cotabato is just one of the many problems our country is experiencing.  This only caught our attention because of the magnitude of the damage.  It has actually been going on for many years, but it has been overlooked by not only the government, but by humans as well.

Each of us has a role play, but it seems we only play the part when the actual need is there; when the crisis presents itself; when it will affect the way we live.  There is a saying, “Prevention is better than cure,”  but what we are doing to nature, we do not see the damage done right away.

“It is a silent crisis.  We don’t see it, yet we feel it.” (Fuentes, ASEAN Center for Biodiversity Loss)

I guess why we don’t actually worry and think of the long term effects of our actions is because we rely on what we see.  This is also because, nature does not show how it is affected right away.  But that is our problem also, we only act on it when some of the species are nearly gone.

Why can’t we stop this black coral poaching? According to a Badjao diver , the gathering of corals and other endangered marine species is a lucrative activity for small fishermen in western Mindanao.  And for fishermen, it is easier than catching fish, said a 68-year-old diver, whose identity has been withheld for his protection.  So again, it boils down to profit and means of livelihood.

“Imagine, if we were in their place, what would we have felt being robbed of our food and home?”

Humans, by nature are proud and greedy creatures and have short term memory.  We forget if we’re not constantly reminded – one second we’re fighting for them, the next we are tired of them.

A little consideration, because we are one component of life.  We are also creatures of God, and to us He has given us a task.