US Navy bars park rangers from inspecting grounded ship at Tubbataha Reef

US Navy bars park rangers from inspecting grounded ship at Tubbataha Reef

According to the Tubbataha management office, it is highly probable that the ship has damaged large portions of the heritage sites’ coral reefs, thus violating pertinent Philippine laws, including Republic Act 10067 or the Tubbataha Reefs National Park Act of 2009.

By MARYA SALAMAT
Bulatlat.com

MANILA – Outrage greeted the reported trespassing of US Navy minesweeper, the USS Guardian (MCM 5), yesterday in the waters of Palawan. The US Navy said in its website that their ship “ran aground on Tubbataha Reef National Marine Park, a World Heritage Site in the Sulu Sea, 640 kilometers (400 miles) southeast of Manila at 2:25 a.m. local time, January 17.”

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