PH to pursue damage claims vs US on Tubbataha

In a photo released by the U.S. Navy, the mine countermeasures ship USS Guardian sits aground in this Jan. 22, 2013 file photo on the Tubbataha Reef in the Sulu Sea in the Philippines. AP FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines – The government remains committed to continue pursuing its claims for compensation on the damages made by a US Navy Ship on the Tubbataha reef in 2013, Malacanang said Saturday.

Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said the Philippine and US authorities had discussed the issue of compensation.

“We’re committed to pursuing compensation for it,” Valte said on radio.

Valte said there was a third party who had filed a case on the issue of compensation before the Supreme Court.

She, however said, the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) was able to file a comment on orders of the high court.

She also said that since there was a pending case on the issue, it was in the best interest of the government not to comment further.

Last year, environmental activists and militant groups filed an urgent motion to ask the high court for a series of Temporary Environmental Protection Orders (TEPOs) aimed at stopping US military exercises and port calls of US warships in the Philippines.

A Petition for the Writ of Kalikasan was also filed before the high court.

The US Navy Ship ran aground the Tubbataha reef on Jan. 17, 2013, damaging an estimated 4,000 square meters of coral reefs, the largest marine protected area in the country.

The Philippines fined the US P58 million for the damage to the reef.

The Tubbataha reef was declared as a World heritage Site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) in 1993.

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