Pinatubo lake tours now dangerous

PINATUBO WATCH Calm now after its deadly eruptions 20 years ago, Mount Pinatubo attracts nature watchers to its crater lake. Tourism officials, however, warn that heavy rains may trigger the collapse of its crater wall. TONETTE T. OREJAS/INQUIRER CENTRAL LUZON

ANGELES CITY—A Department of Tourism (DOT) official has asked outdoor enthusiasts to postpone their trips to Mt. Pinatubo’s crater lake during the rainy season because heavy rains may trigger the collapse of the volcano’s crater wall.

Ronaldo Tiotuico, DOT director in Central Luzon, said he is concerned about the safety and security of local and foreign tourists trekking the volcano’s crater following an announcement by the weather bureau that several typhoons would hit the country in the coming months.

“Many other portions of the crater’s inner wall are in danger of collapsing, as indicated by huge cracks and steep slopes. Collapse may be triggered once heavy rain falls within the area,” Tiotuico said in a travel advisory.

He said if adventure seekers cannot postpone their trek to Mt. Pinatubo until October, they must “observe safety precautions,” especially if they plan to swim in the crater lake.

“In addition, thermal activities on the eastern crater lake shoreline are risky, and may cause scalding or burns upon contact. Moderate to strong wind will also affect the mobility of watercraft, like kayaks and boats, near the breached two-meter wide Maraunot outlet,” he said.

He said there are “frequent occurrences of rock fall and landslide” along the crater wall. “Such active occurrences are evidenced by the existence of significant fresh talus (loose rocks) deposits along the crater lake shoreline,” he added.

Tiotuico said tourists should consult travel advisories and check weather conditions in areas close to Mt. Pinatubo issued by local governments, or the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa).

“The rule of thumb is that whenever there is a typhoon brewing, it is best to keep out of harm’s way,” he said.

The 2-km wide crater lake of Mt. Pinatubo was formed after the volcano’s eruption in 1991. It has become a popular destination due to its turquoise water that is suitable for swimming, kayaking and boat rides.

But the crater lake contains enough water to flood communities in Botolan, Zambales. In 2001, residents of Botolan villages near the volcano were evacuated after experts said the collapse of the crater wall was imminent due to accumulated rainwater that reached “dangerous levels.”

To avoid the collapse of the crater wall that year, excess water was drained from the lake through a channel dug up by Aetas, and personnel of the Department of Public Works and Highways.

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X-MEN: FIRST CLASS

X-MEN: FIRST CLASS charts the epic beginning of the X-Men saga, and reveals a secret history of famous global events.  Before mutants had revealed themselves to the world, and before Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr took the names Professor X and Magneto, they were two young men discovering their powers for the first time. Not archenemies, they were instead at first the closest of friends, working together with other Mutants (some familiar, some new), to prevent nuclear Armageddon.  In the process, a grave rift between them opened, which began the eternal war between Magneto’s Brotherhood and Professor X’s X-Men.

The film stars James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Rose Byrne, January Jones, Oliver Platt, and Kevin Bacon.  Matthew Vaughn (“Kick-Ass”) directs, and the producers are Lauren Shuler Donner, Simon Kinberg and Bryan Singer.  Singer, who helmed the acclaimed blockbusters “X-Men” and “X2,” wrote the story for X-MEN: FIRST CLASS.

Chinese-Filipino trader tagged in smuggling of black coral

By Philip C. Tubeza

Philippine Daily Inquirer

CARGO INSPECTION Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri shows photographers some of the rare black corals during an inspection of the seized illegal shipment at the Bureau of Customs in Manila. NIÑO JESUS ORBETA

MANILA, Philippines—A Chinese-Filipino businesswoman has been identified as the financier in the foiled attempt to smuggle P35 million worth of marine life that exposed the massive destruction of a black coral network off Cotabato province reportedly five times the size of Manila.

Exequiel Navarro, consignee of the illegal shipment, identified the woman and two accomplices, but their names were withheld pending investigation, Customs Police Director Nestorio Gualberto told reporters on Monday.

“The businesswoman is supposed to be the financier of the project. She exports marine products to Taiwan,” Gualberto said. “(Navarro) is claiming he was only used by the Chinese businesswoman.”

Navarro is under investigation after customs officials intercepted two large container vans containing cargo declared as rubber and consigned to him earlier this month. The shipment revealed more than 21,000 pieces of black corals, 161 dead turtles and other marine life.

Coral expert Gary Williams of the California Academy of Sciences estimated that the area damaged or destroyed due to the harvesting of the black corals could reach up to 190.8 square kilometers, or five times the size of Manila, which has a land area of 38.55 square km.

Gualberto said Navarro also implicated two men—one in charge of the harvesting, and the other the shipper.

Navarro to be judged

Gualberto said the Bureau of Customs would initially file charges only against Navarro in the Department of Justice on Thursday for violating the country’s Fisheries Code.

Gualberto added that the bureau also would seek Navarro’s inclusion in the Bureau of Immigration’s watch list to prevent him from leaving the country.

“We cannot make any arrest because the incident happened a long time ago. (Navarro) is freely roaming around, but he cannot leave the country,” he said.

Gualberto said Navarro also offered a sworn affidavit to the bureau, but the agency turned it down and suggested that he submit it instead to the justice department.

“These are his allegations, but it remains to be proven if that Chinese woman has something to do with his case,” he added.

Li n Lim Trading

Theresa Mundita Lim, chief of the Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau, said on Monday that Navarro had disclosed in his affidavit that the contraband was consigned to the Zamboanga-based Li n Lim Trading.

She said Navarro had claimed he was not a part of the trading company and that he was only a representative of the transport company hired to ship the contraband.

Environment Secretary Ramon Paje told reporters that President Aquino had directed the prosecution of Navarro and the imposition of “stringent penalties” on him.

Paje said criminal charges against Navarro would be filed for violations of the Wildlife Act, which provides harsher penalties, instead of the Fisheries Code.

He also said the value of the damaged and confiscated species was lower than the actual costs.

“The value is understated so far,” Paje said. “The damage to our water resources runs up to hundreds of millions of pesos.”

It takes more than two decades for coral reefs to recover, he noted. Further, the destruction of the reefs will have a domino effect on other species that depend directly and indirectly on it.

Senate inquiry

Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri, chair of the Senate committee on environment and natural resources, inspected the contraband at the port of Manila on Monday.

“We will conduct an investigation to put a stop to this rape of our seas and natural resources,” Zubiri told reporters. “I am a diver and it pains me to see these harvested corals and dead animals.”

In a privilege speech later in the Senate, Zubiri condemned “in the strongest possible terms” the destruction of coral reefs, describing it as “economic sabotage.”

“We cannot let this high crime pass without our scrutiny … We will expose all the people behind this crime, particularly the financier and masterminds of this syndicate,” he said.

Citing a World Wildlife Fund estimate in 1994, the senator said destroying a kilometer of coral reefs cost between P6.165 million and P54 million over 25 years.

“If we lose our corals and marine biodiversity, we will lose these marine grounds where the fish spawn, lay eggs and feed on. In short, we will lose our rich fishing grounds and deprive millions of Filipinos who rely on fishing for their livelihood, as well as pose a threat to our food security,” Zubiri said. With reports from Kristine L. Alave and Christian V. Esguerra

Batangas fishkill

Weather change led to Batangas fishkill, says BFAR

By Marrah Erika Lesaba

BATANGAS CITY—A sudden drop in temperature that lowered oxygen level at the onset of the rainy season in Taal Lake has killed 752.6 metric tons of fish worth P57.226 million since Friday, officials said on Sunday.

The fishkill was the worst climate change disaster to hit Batangas, according to Rosario del Mundo of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) office in the province.

The loss at Talisay town’s side of the lake involved 375 MT of bangus (milkfish); 160 MT of tilapia, 50 MT of bangus and 1.6 MT of bangus fingerlings in Laurel town; 160 MT tilapia in Agoncillo; and 12 MT of bangus in San Nicolas.

Del Mundo said she first received the report of a decrease in oxygen level at the lake on Thursday, and the cultured fish began dying by the next day.

“If the dissolved oxygen drops and it rains, the fish cannot breathe and it dies,” she said.

Schools of fish were seen swimming in circles before they floated dead to the surface in huge numbers. The deaths have occurred in the past at summer’s end, but in much smaller numbers, officials said.

Biya, a fish species that only thrives in the lake, and crabs also died.

Del Mundo said the loss could still go higher because some fish cage owners, mostly Chinese, were still determining damage.

Talisay Mayor Zenaida Mendoza yesterday said she had ordered the dead milkfish, unfit for eating, buried under a mixture of soil and lime to dispel the foul odor in an isolated and upland area of Barangay Sampaloc.

Mendoza said that Gov. Vilma Santos-Recto sent a backhoe to help in the disposal, hampered by heavy rains.

Aquaculture is a multimillion-peso enterprise in Batangas, with at least 6,000 fish cages dotting the Taal Lake

PHOTO PROOF. Maguindanao Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu shows pictures of purported special treatment being given by jail officials to massacre suspect Andal Ampatuan Sr. at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City. NIÑO JESUS ORBETA

MANILA, Philippines—Other VIPS behind bars are getting special treatment, and Maguindanao Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu on Thursday showed pictures to back his contention.

Angered by the refusal of jail officials to allow prosecutors and members of the media to inspect the cells of the suspected masterminds of the November 2009 Maguindanao massacre, Mangudadatu presented photos showing Andal Ampatuan Sr. freely moving around the high-security prison in Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig City.

“If you have the money, there is no law,” Mangudadatu, who lost his wife, sisters and other kin in the massacre, complained to reporters.

He said he had a “more explosive” video proving that Ampatuan Sr., the patriarch of the powerful clan and a former governor of Maguindanao, was enjoying special treatment from jail officials.

Earlier, tension ran high in the jail warden’s office when Mangudadatu, prosecutors, and other kin of the massacre victims insisted on an on-the-spot inspection of the Ampatuans’ cells at the maximum-security prison of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP).

“You do not want us to inspect the jail cells? Then I’ll come out with my evidence. I won’t be saying this if I did not have the proof,” the infuriated Mangudadatu said.

“With just this USB, the bureau could collapse. And I have a video that’s more incriminating,” he said, holding up the USB that had the digital copies of his photo evidence. 

In living color

Mangudadatu showed the pictures to members of the media using his laptop. He said the pictures were taken this year but did not disclose who took them and how.

“OK, they won’t agree [to the inspection]? Let’s see who gets fired,” he said.

One photo shows Ampatuan Sr., wearing brown shorts and a blue shirt, sitting in the basketball court outside the prison building with 13 guests standing in front of him. High-risk prisoners are allowed only two guests at a time.

Another photo shows him, again in the basketball court, with a woman purportedly his wife. The woman is shown using a mobile phone, which is not allowed inside the prison compound.

A third photo shows Ampatuan Sr., still in the basketball court, with two men whom Mangudadatu identified as inmates acting as the patriarch’s masseur and cook and “who are also allowed to go out of their cells.”

Other photos show vehicles purportedly owned by the Ampatuans parked outside the prison compound.

“Their vehicles are also allowed inside the prison compound. It’s like they’re feasting,” Mangudadatu said. “What are they doing there when the guards are supposed to be strict about visiting hours?”

Inmates’ relatives and lawyers are allowed to visit from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesdays to Fridays, and from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. and from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., Saturdays and Sundays. No visits are allowed on Mondays.

Hotel sighting

Private prosecutor Harry Roque claimed that two lawyers had seen Ampatuan Sr. at a five-star hotel in Pasay City, and that he had reported this to Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo.

“If they’re not hiding anything, why don’t they allow an inspection?” Roque said.

Mangudadatu said Robredo should conduct a full-blown investigation of the purported perks being afforded the Ampatuans by BJMP officials assigned to the prison camp.

“This is being done here,” he said. “Higher-ups, especially P-Noy (President Benigno Aquino III), would not have allowed this.”

But the warden, J/Chief Insp. Glennford Valdepeñas, denied that Ampatuan Sr. was being given special treatment.

Valdepeñas said he assumed his position only on April 7 and did not recall any instance of Ampatuan Sr. being brought to the basketball court.

But he pointed out that inmates were given time to exercise outside their cells under the prisoners’ welfare program.

Valdepeñas said he had not seen Mangudadatu’s pictures but that he was ready to be investigated.

He said defense lawyers had access to the inmates 24 hours a day and insisted that Ampatuan Sr. was never allowed to leave for a hotel during his watch.

“If that had happened, he wouldn’t have returned,” the warden said.

Judge’s permission

Defense lawyer George Narvasa said that if the prosecution had evidence that Ampatuan Sr. was being given special treatment, they should present it in court.

He added that the prosecution should get the proper authorization from the BJMP if it wanted to inspect the suspects’ cells.

But Judge Jocelyn Solis Reyes said on Wednesday that the prosecution could inspect the cells and only needed to coordinate with the BJMP.

“Yes, as long as proper coordination is made,” Reyes said.

Mangudadatu, the prosecutors, and the kin of the other massacre victims prepared a written request late on Wednesday.

They intended to conduct an inspection at around noon Thursday and went to the warden’s office to get his approval.

Valdepeñas remained in his room and did not meet with them.

The group waited for 20 minutes until a woman official relayed the warden’s decision: Only one lawyer from the prosecution and one from the defense could conduct the inspection.

“By now, they would have already been able to remove the movable air-conditioner and the [Internet] router upstairs,” Mangudadatu said.

sorce:http://newsinfo.inquirer.net