The guardians of Tubbataha

Our latest series continues with a story on the Tubbataha marine park, a journey that took PCIJ Multimedia Director Ed Lingao and his associate producer, Ms Justine Espina-Letargo, on a 10-hour boat ride in the dead of night to the reef east of Palawan, across the turbulent waters of the Sulu sea.

There they got acquainted with a sea turtle named Valerie, and a handful of marine park rangers who take so warmly and diligently to a most difficult task: Patrol roughly 10,000 hectares of coral reef and protect some 600 species of fish in a no-take zone. That means, literally, no visitor may take anything at all from the area except the fresh air and the breathtaking sights of Tubbataha.

Incidentally, the marine park is featured in the new design of the 1,000-peso bill. Read more about the guardians of the place this natural wonder, where the colors of the sea explode.