This was after the House Committee on Natural Resources approved on Wednesday House Bill No. 6373, which seeks to declare the area 3-nautical miles (around 10 square kilometers) surrounding the KGI and Scarborough Shoal as Marine Protected-- READ:
This was after the House Committee on Natural Resources approved on Wednesday House Bill No. 6373, which seeks to declare the area 3-nautical miles surrounding the KGI and Scarborough Shoal as Marine Protected Areas to protect the country’s marine resources.
“That is an exclusive home to the Philippines,” she said. “I hope the President will not surrender one square unit of our territory.”“What compromise is there? Our national interest is at stake here,” she emphasized. According to the bill, local studies showed the 3-nautical mile protected area is preferable as it will give the protected habitat enough and safe space for young marine organisms to grow.
The bill is an operationalization of proposals from local marine experts to declare the Kalayaan Islands as MPAs to protect the coral reefs therein, Hagedorn said. “Coral reefs are the breeding ground or the “nursery” of marine life. If reefs are destroyed, we nip marine life at its bud. Thus, to allow the destruction of the coral reefs in Kalayaan Islands will adversely impact fish production in the country and in several adjacent countries,” Villanueva said.
The bill will also create a Kalayaan Island Group and Scarborough Shoal Protected Area Management Office and a Joint Congressional Oversight Committee to ensure effective implementation of the provisions of the proposed measure. Macon Ramos-Araneta and Maricel V. Cruz
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