State-of-the-art Facilities for Tubbataha: Protecting a World Heritage Site

From the very start of his leadership, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. made a resounding declaration not only to the Philippines but called on world leaders as well to bolster the campaign to conserve biodiversity, particularly preserving the nation’s rich natural heritage.

“We are currently losing huge chunks of our natural resources at a rate difficult to repair and impossible to replenish in our lifetime,” President Marcos said during his speech at the opening ceremony of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations-European Union (ASEAN-EU) commemorative summit in Brussels, Belgium, on Dec. 15, 2022.

President Marcos’ call for biodiversity conservation was gleaned from the construction of the new Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park’s state-of-the-art Ranger and Research facilities that would institute strict protection and conduct up-to-date research.

The Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park, a 97,030-hectare marine protected area located 150 kilometers southeast of Puerto Princesa City, Palawan, is a UNESCO World Heritage site known for its biodiversity and unspoiled beauty and considered an “important habitat for internationally threatened and endangered marine species.”

Concerted efforts by national and local government agencies, the private sector, and the international community to protect the immense ecological resources of the Tubbataha Reefs have been underway and are now in their second phase, this time to house the new state-of-the-art ranger and research facilities, complete with a helipad.

The station was designed by Dylan James Melgazo, a consultant for the World Wide Fund for Nature-Philippines (WWF-Philippines), featuring a glass-domed central building with a 360-degree view of the park, a visitor center, a mini-museum, and vegetable planters.

The station will be powered mainly by solar panels and micro-wind turbines and will serve as an ocean outpost for the Philippine Navy and Philippine Coast Guard to further increase the rangers’ capacity to protect the park.

The Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park is situated in the Coral Triangle, a global center of marine biodiversity and home to 360 species of corals (almost 90% of all coral species in the Philippines), 11 species of cetaceans, 11 species of sharks, and an estimated 700 species of fish. It is likewise a nesting and resting area for green turtles and hawksbill turtles as well as a home to seven breeding species of seabird.

Phase 1 of the Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park was initiated with funding from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA) in 2020 with a contract cost of P40 million and was completed in 2021.

Construction for both Phase I and Phase II includes the main module, research module, and transportation module, with a specific plan to build a helipad.

Victor Gabuco, a retired police officer and a resident of Puerto Princesa City, lauded the collective efforts to implement the new Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park upgrade, saying this project would not only benefit the local and national governments but the international perspective as well.

“This (Tubbataha upgrade project) will protect thousands of marine species thriving in the protected site, which in return will translate to bountiful marine produce and therefore will pave the way for economic prosperity,” Gabuco remarked.

The respect for biodiversity, Gabuco added, means increased productivity for various sectors with heightened positive domino effects to the LGU’s economy and social welfare of the residents.

Palawan Gov. Dennis Socrates inherited this infrastructure project from the previous administration of former governor and now 2nd District Rep. Jose Alvarez. The plan envisions three interconnected structures: a command center for housing the rangers, a research building, and a helipad.

With its hexagon shape, the central building will feature a glass dome providing the rangers with a 360-degree view of the park, along with overhanging troughs designed to collect rainwater. Within this structure, there will also be a visitor center, a mini-museum, and stepladder planters for cultivating vegetables.

The construction of the new ranger station in Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park is now in Phase II, but it still requires funding of P122 million to complete.

TIEZA, the infrastructure arm of the Department of Tourism, and the DENR have allotted a budget for the Phase II construction of the Tubbataha Reefs Park which is related to the central structure of the station, where their rangers will reside.

Palawan Provincial Information Officer, Atty. Christian Jay Cojamco said that 60 percent of the Phase II construction of the Tubbataha ranger station in the town of Cagayancillo has been completed.

The initial budget of the Phase II project, which started in April 2023, was sourced from the compensation paid by the United States to the Philippines for damages caused by the USS Guardian when it ran aground in Tubbataha in 2013.

Angelique Songco, the protected area superintendent of the Tubbataha Management Office (TMO), said that half of the budget is being spent on transporting the materials from Puerto Princesa to the construction site in the middle of the ocean.

While waiting for the new station’s completion, Tubbataha Reefs park rangers are still serving their two-month tours of duty at the nearby old ranger station, a 28-year-old structure that has been condemned after a recent storm washed away part of its flooring.

Songco noted that two patrol boats are on standby to take the rangers back to Puerto Princesa in case the old station gives way before the new and modern ranger station is ready for occupation.

It was further explained that the new ranger station will also serve as an ocean outpost for Philippine Navy (PN) and Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) personnel, thus giving the facility national security significance.

The old ranger station is currently still being occupied by four park rangers, two technicians from the TMO, and about just as many PN and PCG personnel. (Radyo Pilipinas)