By NONOY E. LACSON
(December 19, 2009, 6:59pm)
BONGAO, Tawi-Tawi – Tawi-Tawi Gov. Sadikul Sahali Saturday denied ownership of the Great Bakungan Island in the province but admitted that his four children bought the property which was later declared by the national government as one of the national protected areas and wildlife sanctuaries in the area.
Sahali, however, said his children are no longer pursuing ownership of the island after it was declared as a protected area.
“My children are no longer asserting their rights to own the island although they have contributed P3 million among themselves and paid to the heirs of Sin Kok Tan – Filomena Guerzon Tan, Fernando Tan, Betty Masias, Goergina Tan Datayan, Nestor Tan, Rolando Tan, Oscar Tan, Eddie Tan, Nancy Tan Ajak, Xavier Tan, Melody Tan Kamlian and Nenita Tiblan – the supposed owners of the island,” Sahali explained.
The reaction of Sahali came after it was alleged that he bought and owned one of the islands in the Turtle group of islands despite its status as a protected area.
“What my children are doing now is just to protect the many improvements they have introduced in that island prior to the inclusion of it as a protected area and wildlife sanctuary by the national government,” Sahali further said.
He also disclosed that the provincial government even adopted the Tawi-Tawi Environment Code, a code he said that gives more teeth to local government agencies and environmentalist groups, to protect the island from any destruction.
He said local government units (LGUs) including national government line agencies stationed in this province also vowed to extend their full support in the full implementation of the environment code which took effect last July.
The governor said the province, being the center of the coral triangle, plays two crucial functions to the larger ecology — as a spawning ground and nursery of diverse marine species and as corridor for migratory marine mammals, fish stocks and turtles.
The Coral Triangle is a geographical term referring to the waters of Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Solomon Islands and Timor-Leste with an abundance of coral reef, the governor explained.
It is the most diverse marine environment in the world — listed by the World Wide Fund (WWF) as the top priority for marine conservation and the focus of its WWF Coral Triangle Program that was launched in 2007, he added.
Turtle Islands, a remote and isolated corner of the country whose importance as a sanctuary and nesting site for the fragile green sea turtle, is recognized internationally and always under threat from human activity.
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