The owners of a bulk carrier that razed through more than two hectares of protected reef off Daanbantayan town in Cebu should compensate for the environmental damage.
An environment advocacy group raised this concern yesterday as it disclosed that appropriate charges are being prepared against the owners of MV Belle Rose that ran aground last week at Monad Shoal off Daanbantayan, wreaking havoc on more than two hectares of corals in the protected marine area.
Anna Oposa, co-founder and executive director of the Save Philippine Seas movement, said the provincial government of Cebu is poised to level charges against the Belle Rose owners.
Oposa said an inter-agency task force is currently preparing the case, particularly assessment of the damage to the shoal, widely known as a popular tourist destination and scuba diving haven.
She stressed that Belle Rose had to be pressured to pay for the damage and the cost of rehabilitating the marine resource property.
The Panamanian registered vessel reportedly owned by a Japanese firm was weighed down with some 48,000 tons of clinker used for cement production when it bulldozed through Monad Shoal before running aground last June 13, leaving a swath of destruction at the reef around Malaspacua Island.
Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office Chief Baltazar Tribunalo Jr. said marine biologists from the University of San Carlos and non-government organizations were also helping in the investigation to determine the extent of damage on the corals and other marine life in the area.
