A bureau of oceans is in the works. What took so long?

MANILA, Philippines – The creation of a bureau in the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) dedicated to study and protect oceans is underway, a development that could fill a gap in the country’s ability to govern the Philippines’ large bodies of water.

Currently, the DENR’s Biodiversity Management Bureau (BMB) has a Management of Coastal and Marine Resources office, which handles coral reefs, sea grass beds, mangrove stands, soft bottom areas, plankton community, and water quality.

But this office may not be enough, especially in view of mounting tensions in the West Philippine Sea and problems of the Philippines’ natural resources in both shallow and deep waters.

“[I]t really is absent,” Environment Secretary Toni Yulo-Loyzaga told reporters on Monday, September 9, on the sidelines of the launch of 20 Lawod Fellows who will craft policies on the conservation and management of marine resources.

“How do you have a cogent policy that is relevant for the needs of the country, given the different natural, political, geopolitical threats that we face?”

Loyzaga said that as they come up with more information materials — from mangrove maps to atlases of reefs and seagrasses — and secure funding for marine scientific research stations, they might be able to create the new bureau in a year.

“The legal side, in terms of reorganization, is being explored now,” said Loyzaga. “Hopefully, within the next year, we can have a bureau that will, at least in priority, address the ocean issues.”

The Philippine coastline measures 36,289 kilometers, one of the longest in the world. It is bordered by the Philippine Sea, the West Philippine Sea, and the Sulu and Celebes seas.

What’s taking so long?

It’s surprising that for an archipelagic country like the Philippines, it still has no dedicated office in government on the study of oceans.

What took so long? It’s a similar question raised by the environment secretary herself.

“When was there ever an awareness that oceans should be a specific bureau in terms of the administration of the DENR or some other department?” Loyzaga asked.

“Was there ever a consciousness, in fact, that we are a large ocean nation and therefore we need the expertise to move the protection of our oceans forward?” she added.

That the oceans bureau has not yet happened can be attributed to politics and the differing foci of concerned agencies, Theresa Mundita Lim, executive director of the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity, said. She served as DENR Biodiversity Management Bureau (BMB) director for 15 years.

Progress had been slow as the DENR was “very forestry focused” while the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, attached to the Department of Agriculture (DA), zoomed in on production.

It also depended on who the bureau chiefs of the BMB and BFAR and the secretaries of the DENR and the DA were, said Lim.

“It [oceans bureau] would reduce some of the jurisdiction of certain departments because you’re setting up another system, framework,” said Lim. “So, that was something, medyo political ‘yung issue, why it wasn’t taking off.” (The issue was a bit political.)

However, the priorities of the country’s current leadership could be a game-changer.

“If there’s a political will to do it, then it’s about time,” said Lim.

Conservation is economical

The political will may exist now partly because the tensions and problems in the West Philippine Sea have been escalating.

Filipino scientists, economists, and lawyers, for instance, are currently working together to assess the environmental damage in the West Philippine Sea.

“What use is the right to the territorial rights, if everything in the water is dead and it’s not conserved, it’s not protected, it’s not regenerating,” Australian Ambassador to Manila HK Yu told reporters on Monday.

Yu said sovereignty and territorial rights matter because these impact a country’s natural resources.

“Ultimately it’s about your livelihood,” said Yu.

Beyond defending our maritime zones, we should also be able to conserve and sustainably exploit them, said retired Supreme Court senior associate justice Antonio Carpio.

“The basic premise is that all the natural resources of the state belong to the Filipino people and must go down to their benefit.” – Rappler.com