Cost of China’s Damage To Philippine Coral Reefs: P33 Billion A Year
CHINA – The Philippines is losing about P33.1 billion per year from the damaged reef due to China’s illegal fishing and reclamation activities.
Most Filipinos who reside near the beaches find their source of living in the sea. Even though that kind of job doesn’t bring lots of money, they’re family have enough food to serve in their tables.
One of the most heated arguments in the Philippines today is the sharing of resources in the Philippine waters with China.
President Rodrigo Roa Duterte said he’s allowing the Chinese fishers to hunt in the West Philippine Sea since they are allies.
Critics of the 74-year-old politician contradicted his orders and said there is a possibility that he will get impeached.
The president reacted saying that those people who disobey his order will be put behind bars.
We can’t blame other Filipinos for protesting on President Duterte’s statements because the Chinese fishers were allegedly hunting the county’s valuable resources like the giant clams.
Based on a report from Inquirer, Filipino marine scientist said the country is losing about P33.1 billion per year from the damaged reed at the Spratly Islands and Scarborough Shoal because of China’s illegal fishing and reclamation activities.
On Wednesday, a scientist from the University of the Philippines’ Marine Science Institute (UP MSI), Deo Florence Onda, opened up his thoughts about the illegal fishing operations on the disputed waters.
“The value includes all the services that we get from the coral reefs like climate regulation and the benefits we get from the ecosystem,” he said.
According to the report, Deo Florence Onda said they measured the country’s losses using the baseline value of P18 million per hectare annually. His research was based on the study of the Dutch information and Analytics Company.
The Filipino scientist also said that if the country’s reefs remain damages, the Philippines will lose that huge amount of money annually.
Based on the report, satellite images showed that the destroyed coral reef at Scarborough shoal covered 550 hectares and 1,300 hectares in some parts of Spratlys island.
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