The Accidental Occupation: Tubbataha Truths

Tubbataha Reef to be renamed "Knee Jerk Reef"

Well, the Philippine press is at it again, stoking fuel into the fires of the old circulation register by whipping up a pile of angst about the recent American occupation of a Philippine reef. This is aided and abetted by the Filipino commie leftist pinkos who are raising hell about the matter, too, the aim of which, of course, is drive a wedge between America and the Philippines the size of the Red Sea parting, through which the commie reds from China will march chanting Chairman Mao instead of Moses.

We are led to believe this National Heritage Park is a jewel, a gem, a rare treasure worshipped by the Philippine masses as if it were Yamashita's gold, or the Marcos billions, strewn across the Sulu Sea. Hell, it is a bunch of rarely visited, coral encrusted rocks only there because the Filipino dynamite fishermen find it too remote to blast it to smithereens like they have the coral close to the mainlands. Besides, there are "Park Rangers" there, riding their sea horses about like a band of stern-eyed vigilantes ready to lynch anyone who enters the park without permissions. Aforesaid permissions are typed in triplicate on an ancient Underwood typewriter,  slightly rusty but serviceable, lodged in the second floor generator room of the lighthouse on the South Atoll. And of course, permissions must be accompanied by the payment of required fees, gratuities accepted.

After the American incursion was repelled by a pile of Filipino rocks, the mainland cheered and hooted as if Pacquiao had knocked Marquez into the next universe rather than the other way 'round.  And cursed as if Sis had been accosted in a dark alley by a gang of fat, old American ex-servicemen hung over from surviving the Bataan Death March, or ghostly remnants from the brigades of racist American troops that ruthlessly defeated the Philippines 114 years ago.

Never mind that the Guardian crew are actually fresh-faced American youngsters, doing their duty, praying to their God, and willing to sacrifice their lives in defense of the Philippines.

The Philippines sent its entire Navy and Cast Guard fleet into the treacherous shallow waters of the reef to supervise the US Navy's salvage work to extract the shipwrecked USS Guardian.

The American Captain in charge was heard to shout abeam, one ship to another, "Happy to have you here, guys, getting in the way. We couldn't have done it without you. Now kindly put down your guns!"

Evidently the Philippines was surprised when its Rangers tried to board the stricken Guardian that the Americans brandished weapons and said, "back, you fools". The Rangers got their briefs and egos in a bunch, forgetting that American soldiers are not Filipino fishermen, available for easy rolling and bribe-extraction. That role, and roll, would be consigned to the Philippine government and newspapers. And rather than extracting a few bucks, the Philippines would ratchet up the toll by charging the cost of the Filipino sailors, gas and oil, foods consumed, and boat rentals through to the US Navy. On top of fines for reef destruction, which of course shall be a multiple of 10 times normal because these are rich Americans.  This is the same logic as used for airport terminal fees, where international fees are 10 times domestic while operating costs are two times domestic.

The Philippines is expected to walk . . . er, swim away from this affair with a rumored $46.5 million kick in the budget from Uncle Sam. I started the rumor myself, having no facts to deal with, and figuring this incident is not worth the time to roll up a good mouthful of spit. Much less research or call someone on.

Never mind that Uncle Sam will subsequently rip up the Philippine defense agreement out of fear that the Philippines will charge its whole army, navy, coast guard, and air force expenses to its rich American ally, causing the nation to go bankrupt, with the Chinese sweeping into Washington to collect their debts. When the defense agreement is shredded, China can sweep into Manila and collect everything.

I found this report at the asiaqua dive web site:

• Tubbataha reef is located 180 km east of Palawan, in the middle of the Sulu Sea. Tubbataha Reef is accessible only in cruise. It is a marine park created in 1988 and classified in the world heritage of the humanity by the UNESCO in 1993. Because of these very particular conditions it is visited only by 400 divers a year. 

My Goodness Gracious. So this reef is actually reserved for the upper class folk who can afford a cruise ship ticket, not for the ordinary Filipino. The ordinary Filipino gets bombed out corals and over-fished seas that look much like underwater deserts. I wonder where the outrage is about that.

Perhaps Filipinos don't really dig reefs all that much, unless Americans run into them.

You think?

That diving map up there is also interesting. It shows two other wrecks in the area, probably diving or photography attractions. The photo here, from National Geographic, shows one of the wrecks and contains this caption:

 

• The rusted hulk of a shipwreck sits in shallow water off Tubbataha Reef in the Philippines. Covering more than 81,000 acres (32,000 hectares) in the heavily trafficked Sulu Sea, shallow Tubbataha has scuttled more than its share of vessels.[Photograph by Wolcott Henry, National Geographic]

Ahhhh. So now we get to the real truth of the matter. These reefs are boat wreckers. They are low and underwater and lie smack in the middle of what would otherwise be a fine sea lane. It is rumored that hundreds of boats have been sunk or damaged there, some little outriggers, two big rusted hulks like you see above, and the USS Guardian, possibly the biggest of the bunch.

So boats hitting the reefs is situation normal.

The emerging stink is just a fine way for Filipinos to rid themselves of envy angst at those "stupid, arrogant Americans" and expose them to ridicule in the tried and true Filipino method of argument. You bring down the opposition by emasculation, just as Enrile went below the belt with Cayetano shortly after Caytano delivered a few crotch kickers himself.

You know, this is all slapstick, this charade, this angst. The Rangers and uptight Filipino officials look like Larry, Moe and Curly to me, and the Guardian's captain, Bozo the Clown.

The reefs are valuable, yes. So are those that used to reside in the many bays and seas near the Philippine mainland.

Look, you want to know why Tubbataha is so valuable? It is the ONLY oceanic National Heritage site in the Philippines, in this lush, amazing paradise of 7,000 islands, the richest sea-based ecological climate in the world. Do you know what the Philippines preserves instead? CHURCHES. Buildings. Here is the list of Philippine National Preservation sites:

• Historic Town of Vigan
• Puerto Princesa Subterranean River
• Rice Terraces of Cordilleras
• San Augustan Church
• Miag-ao Church
• Paoay Church
• Santa Maria Church
• Tubbataha Reefs National Park

So no wonder anguished cries go up from preservationalists. Tubbataha is the last preserved  gem in the jewel case. Because the preservationalists have FAILED to make a case to the National Government that is louder than the cries of the PRIESTS for preservation of their bricks. The seas, like the forests, are reserved for plunder. Rather like the national treasure when you think about how many greedy public servants are dipping into it, for Christmas gifts or other important needs.

So give me a break. Get off the Philippine high horse about the boat already.

I have a feeling all those billions of little coral guys are laughing their pink and beige asses off over this ludicrous, lavish, comedic, tragic teledrama scene.  Bunch of big, lumpy tense humans arguing testily and fretting like Aunt Millie with rats in the pantry. After all, this is no big deal. The corals have to put up with all kinds of flotsam and jetsome ripping though on typhoons, along with the acids and chemicals, sludge and sewerage, spewing from the mainland and drifting around the globe.

At least a boat crashing through is quick death for the cute little buggers. Beats having your eyes and lungs eaten out in excrutiating slow motion.

UPDATE

On February 2, 2013, Rappler reported that the US would make substantial contributions to rehabilitation of the reefs. The Philippine press went strangely quiet at that point.