Full text of the privilege speech of Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri on the alleged smuggling of black corals in the Philippines. At around 3 pm today, May 30, 2011, former Bukidnon 3rd District Congressman and now Senator Juan Miguel “Migs” Zubiri delivered a speech on the poaching of black corals and other marine life in the Philippines. We monitored his speech live via Senate livestreaming.

For those of you who may still not know, there have been uber shocking reports of black coral smuggling in the Philippines. In fact, estimates now put the entire “reef complex” that has been “raped” and “destroyed” at 5 TIMES THE SIZE OF THE CITY OF MANILA!!! There was one report that said that a recent shipment off the coast of Cotabato province was apprehended and the shipment included 21,000 pieces of black coral. At least and 161 endangered turtles and other marine life were also in that shipment. One of the turtles killed was a male aged 80 to 100 years old!!!

Reports also said that the Bureau of Customs recently intercepted the contraband two weeks ago and recovered 134 bundles, or 21,169 pieces, of “sea fan” black corals and 15 bundles, or 196 kilograms, of “sea whip” black corals.

Now, Bukidnon may not be near the sea but anything that threatens nature, biodiversity and sustainable ecosystems should always, ALWAYS be our concern.

Please read the full text of Senator Migs’ speech below and please SHARE THIS POST with everyone!!!

* photo owned and taken by BukidnonOnline.com during a visit to the Senate of the Philippines

“The Rape of Our Ocean” (privilege speech of Senator Migs Zubiri on the poaching of corals in the Philippines)

Mr. President, distinguished colleagues, I rise on an issue that has been the newspaper headlines and the topic of many discussions on social network, particularly on Facebook and Twitter, for the past week. Dubbed by the Philippine Daily Inquirer as “the rape of the ocean”, I refer to the confiscated black corals, stuffed hawksbill turtles and other marine species.

Mr. President, I condemn in the strongest possible terms this environmental crime and serious threat to our marine biodiversity perpetrated by some greedy and unscrupulous members of our society. This crime is a direct affront to all our efforts in protecting and conserving our environment, particularly our diverse marine ecosystems.

This is a mockery of our environmental laws. May I add that this is also tantamount to economic sabotage.

READ THE FULL TEXT OF SENATOR MIGUEL ZUBIRI’S PRIVILEGE SPEECH HERE

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