By Katrina Gracia Consebido
The Philippines is among the countries around the world that celebrate World Oceans Day on Wednesday, June 8.
The United Nations considers oceans as “essential to food security and the health and survival of all life, power our climate and are a critical part of the biosphere.”
“The official designation of World Oceans Day is an opportunity to raise global awareness of the current challenges faced by the international community in connection with the oceans,” it stated.
Through resolution 63/111, paragraph 171, the United Nations General Assembly in 2008 designated June 8 as World Oceans Day.
According to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, there are five to seven existing species of marine turtles, 28 marine mammals, and 168 cartilaginous fishes dwelling in Philippines seas.
There are also 648 species of mollusks, 1,755 reef-associated fishes, 1,062 seaweed, and 820 species of algae that serve the underwater as their home.
Various astounding native fish species reside in the Philippine sea, including Speckled Goby that inhabits the tidal zones of rivers; Bangus Milkfish which is also the national fish of the Philippines, dwelling in the tropical offshore marine waters; and Manila Sea Catfish, an endemic marine fish which can be found in waters of Manila, Laguna, Bataan, Rizal, Cavite, Laguna de Bay, and Pasig River.
Among others are the Picturesque Dragonet, Tikos Rough Triggerfish, White Sardine, Bloch’s Gizzard Shad, Longspine Ponyfish, and Philippine Luminous Rough.
In a statement on June 8, Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. called for the further protection of “marine biodiversity especially in areas beyond national jurisdiction.”
“For many Filipinos, the sea is livelihood and life; for all Filipinos as a nation, it is our definition as such. We are a people of water. We are a maritime and archipelagic country, with more than half our population living and making a living in coastal zones,” he said.
“The threat of the loss of the oceans and its bounties are not just existential in the broad sense; rather they are day-to-day crises that spell out how much of a decent life is at all possible,” he added.
Locsin cited climate change, global warming, overfishing, and microplastics and mismanaged coastal development as threats to oceans, as well as “artificial island-building and drilling activities” in regional disputes. – ag
