Divers hold coastal cleanup in Talisay to celebrate Coral Triangle Day ahead

CEBU, Philippines - To mark the annual celebration of the international Coral Triangle Day, a group of environmental divers from the Knight-Stewards of the Sea, Inc. (Seaknights) scoured Talisay City’s Bogo Shoal for unwanted debris.

“Most activities on Monday are centered in the land, mangrove planting etcetera. Our group, like in the past years, will do a clean-up drive in Bogo Shoal because the Coral Triangle Day is for the corals,” Fr. Tito Soquino of the Seaknights said.

The annual Coral Triangle Day, which is on June 9, is celebrated in countries within the Coral Triangle like the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, and Timor Leste.

The triangle is a six-million square-kilometer ocean wherein all of the world’s marine species can be found. Of all the six countries only the Philippines’ entire territorial jurisdiction is inside the Coral Triangle.

The Seaknights’ cleanup drive inside Talisay City’s marine protected area yesterday yielded diapers, junk food plastic wrappers, the usual fishing lines, and others.

 â€œWe always do clean-up drives here, not only on Coral Triangle Day. But each time, we always haul fishing lines. Unless the local government strictly implements the no-fishing zone, we will still see the same trash here,” said Alfie Fernandez, one of the Seaknights divers.

The two-hectare MPA houses several table corals, color fan corals, and other coral species, but several of them were destroyed by illegal fishing.

Early this year, Mayor Johnny De los Reyes approved a purchase request for marine buoys to be installed in the said reef. The request, as of last week, had been stalled at the General Services Office after the P25,000 total cost of the buoys was marked up by more than 300 percent.

GSO head Joan Vebar said when they checked the prices of the buoys from the suppliers the prices had soared to P89,000.

The Seaknights, which gave the initial cost after canvassing, had advised the GSO not to purchase the goods if the price is exorbitant.   (FREEMAN)