SUBIC BAY FREEPORT—The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) is looking into its lease contracts with a Philippine company after the arrest last week of several Chinese nationals for alleged espionage on Grande Island in Subic Bay. Eduardo Aliño, chair of SBMA, issued instructions to review the specifics of its extended leasehold agreement with Silver Dragon Cruises...
Author: Joanna Rose Aglibot (Joanna Rose Aglibot)
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Fishermen dive for sunken coal as clean-up resumes
SAN SALVADOR ISLAND, Zambales—At first glance, 60-year-old Fernando Avilla looked like he had been spearfishing for some time as he rested with his gear in his wooden boat. It was not fish in his net though but bits of coal he had retrieved underwater. Avila and most fishermen on San Salvador Island off Masinloc, Zambales,...
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Locals clean up coal spill in Zambales fish sanctuary
MASINLOC, Zambales—As leader of the San Salvador Biodiversity Friendly Association, Edna Sarmiento is committed to conservation projects such as planting mangroves, monitoring environmental violations, and pushing cleanups in the Masinloc-Oyon Bay Protected Seascape and Landscape (MOBPLS). This is why Sarmiento and her group were gravely alarmed when, last Oct. 24, a barge carrying more than...
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Environmental damage feared after coal barge runs aground in Zambales fish sanctuary
MASINLOC, Zambales—Local residents are worried about a marine disaster after a barge carrying more than 11,000 metric tons (MT) of coal ran aground last week in a fish sanctuary within a government-declared protected seascape off this town. Nestor Dait, 67, the chair of the Bantay Dagat civilian volunteer group in Masinloc, said the barge Katapatan...