CEBU, Philippines – Environmentalists, diving operators, resort owners and other stakeholders in Bohol have banded together to call out establishments allegedly conducting harmful whale shark watching activities in the island province.
In a letter dated January 22 and sent to Rappler on January 30, the Provincial Tourism Council (PTC) of Bohol urged the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Department of Tourism (DOT), Department of Agriculture (DA), and Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) to look into whale shark watching operations in the towns of Lila, Alburquerque and Dauis.
According to the PTC, some of the whale shark watching operators have begun going about their business even before obtaining legal requirements like an environmental compliance certificate (ECC) — a prerequisite in the undertaking of a project that will affect the environment.
The group said that it already sent a letter to the DENR and concerned agencies in September 2024, but received no response.
The PTC also called out the presence of foreign investors possibly involved in the whale shark watching business. The group cited the Constitution, which says that the State “shall protect the nation’s marine wealth in its archipelagic waters, territorial sea and exclusive economic zone and reserve its use and enjoyment exclusively to Filipino citizens.”
“At least 2 new whale shark watching sites are being initiated in the Barangays of Catarman and Dao, both in the town of Dauis, on Panglao Island, Bohol,” the letter said.
The letter was also addressed to Bohol Governor Erico Aristotle Aumentado, Lila Mayor Arturo Piollo, Alburquerque Mayor Don Ritchie Buates, and Dauis Mayor Roman Bullen.
“The image of Bohol as the country’s first and only UNESCO Global Geopark and a pillar of sustainable and responsible tourism is in grave peril if this malignant situation is allowed to continue,” the PTC said.
The whale shark is listed as an endangered species under the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species in 2016. The IUCN put the species under the “Largely Depleted” category in the organization’s 2021 Green Status Assessment.
Harmful to whale sharks
Environmentalist group Tagbilaran Baywatch, in a letter to the Bohol Provincial Board on January 20, said that the whale shark watching activities would harm the animals and their migratory patterns.
“Considering that the Bohol waters are not the habitat of the whales sharks but are merely routes of the whale shark’ migration, the whale shark watching activities necessarily include feeding to lure the whale sharks into staying put in the area of business of the operators,” their letter read.
Tagbilaran Baywatch cited Bohol Provincial Ordinance No. 2020-008 or the Sustainable Marine Wildlife Interaction Ordinance of the Province of Bohol, which under Section 9 of the ordinance, states that provisioning or the use of any method to attract marine wildlife, including but not limited to baiting, luring, chumming and feeding, is considered a prohibited act.
The group also argued that even if there was no feeding conducted at the whale shark watching sites, the stress brought from contact with people would affect the whales’ capacity to reproduce and communicate with other kin.
Tagbilaran Baywatch called on the local government to ban whale shark watching in the entire province and revoke business permits of whale shark watching site operators.
Gov’t response
In October 2024, the Bohol Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office (PENRO) clarified in a letter to PTC on the issue of the whale shark watching that the responsibility of conserving and protecting these animals falls with the DA.
Under Republic Act No. 9147 or the Wildlife Conservation and Protection Act, the DA has jurisdiction over declared aquatic critical habitats, all aquatic resources, including but not limited to all fishes, aquatic plants, invertebrates and all marine mammals, except dugong.
Fisheries Administrative Order No. 193 specifically bans the possessing or the control of whale sharks.
On the issue of ECCs given to whale watching operators, the PENRO said that they have coordinated the matter with the DENR Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) in Central Visayas which said that whale shark interactions are not covered under Presidential Decree 1586 — the law that covers the implementation of the Environmental Impact Statement System.
Rappler has reached out to the Bohol Provincial Fishery Office under the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources in Central Visayas for a statement on the issue. This article will be updated upon receipt of their response. – Rappler.com