On behalf of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, I would like to welcome you to Manila, Philippines, and fervently hope that you will enjoy your stay here.

It is a great pleasure to be here at this first meeting of the Technical Working Group on the ASEM Oceans Initiative.  As most of you may not know, it was during the first ASEM Environment Ministers’ Meeting held in Beijing in 2002 that this initiative was presented by the Philippines for consideration by the ASEM Environment Ministers.

During that meeting of the ASEM Environment Ministers, key areas were identified for environmental cooperation, which included coastal and marine protection.  Ministers also agreed that all governments should play a key and leading role in implementing sustainable development at the local, national, regional and global level, particularly with respect to the implementation of and compliance with international legal instruments and the promotion of international cooperation.

During the second ASEM Environment Ministers’ Meeting held in Lecce, Italy, on December 2003, the Ministers stressed the importance of biodiversity and of protecting oceans and coastal areas.  Through cooperation and partnerships, increased awareness in the conservation of coastal and marine resources and ecosystems, pollution and the use of unsound and illegal fishing practices detrimental to coastal and marine resources.  This initiative was noted and endorsed by the 7th ASEM Foreign Ministers’ Meeting held in Kyoto, Japan, on May 2005, with Portugal and Indonesia as co-sponsors.

While the ASEM Oceans Initiative may take a long gestation period, we are very happy that you are all here participating in this initial Technical Working Group Meeting to discuss, formulate, and draft what would be the vision and action plan for the ASEM Oceans Initiative.  We believe that while we do not have common waters to manage, the interconnectivity of the different elements of the sea still binds us together because whatever happens in our seas will eventually affect your coastal areas as well and vice-versa.

The Philippines is an archipelagic country defined by the unity of its and land and water resources.  Our over 7,000 islands have about 287,000 square kilometers of coastal waters.  Seventy-eight percent of our provinces and 56% of our municipalities are in the coastal zone.  About 47% of our people reside in our coastal areas, most of whom are living below poverty level.

Our country has been recognized as one of the 17 megadiverse countries in the world.  Compared to other areas in the central and eastern Pacific, it has eight times the number of stony corals and associated reef fish species.  The fishery potential of the Philippine coral reefs is estimated at 350,000 metric tons annually.  The fact that 80% of our people are dependent on fish as their major source of protein highlight the importance of our coastal and marine resources to our economy and to sustainable development.

Unfortunately, these resources have been seriously degraded and depleted, and continue to be at risk.  The lack of its long-term value and pressures from a growing population, have led to over-exploitation.  Now only 5% of our coral reefs remain in excellent condition.  Only about 100,000 hectares of our mangroves are left.  We have lost 30 to 50% of our seagrasses.  Many of our coastal areas are heavily silted and polluted.  This has had an adverse impact on fish production estimated now to be down from 10 kilograms per fishing effort to only 2 kg.

To address the problems in the country’s coastal and marine areas, then-President Fidel V. Ramos in 1993 created a cabinet committee on marine and ocean affairs to advise him on ocean policy and formulate a national marine policy (NMP) that provided a framework for the government to place special emphasis on oceans and the marine environment.  The Philippines is an archipelago that sits in a vast area of oceans – the Pacific Ocean, the South China Sea, and the Sulu-Celebes Seas, all of which link us with neighbors in Southeast Asia, East Asia and to the world.

Coastal and marine management within this country has been as diverse and fragmented as its numerous islands.  Our planning has remained largely sectoral and has been geared towards terrestrial development.  With our hosting of the regional program on the prevention and management of the marine pollution of the East Asian seas and the regional program on building partnership for the environmental management of the seas of East Asia, we learned the importance of the benefits of adopting and implementing the concept of integrated coastal management or ICM.

It is evident that we must take holistic approach of planning and management to fully address the problems besetting our coastal and marine areas.  We believe that planning must start from the top of the mountain down to the coastal area.  And likewise, we have to have a good understanding of the condition of the coastal and marine waters of our neighboring nations.  It is in this regard that we strongly supported and advocated for the formulation of the sustainable development strategy for the sea of East Asia or SDS-SEA.

The SDS-SEA was adopted by Environment Ministers from 12 countries in East Asia, namely, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, China, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Republic of Korea, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines as a common platform for regional cooperation and framework for policy and program development and implementation without imposing legal obligations or prohibitions on individual states.  As part of the Philippines’ commitment in the implementation of the SDS-SEA, we have finalized our national framework for sustainable archipelagic framework or ARCDEV.

The ARCDEV lays down some important guiding principles that emphasize the integration of land and sea.  The use of scientific tools in the selection of policy options, the promotion of public awareness for the meaningful participation of stakeholders, coordinated management of all ocean-related activities, and the application of environmental principles and implementation of international instruments relevant for coastal and marine management.

It sets sustainable development goals that incorporated socio-economic considerations, particularly health concerns and poverty alleviation.  The ARCDEV further proposes strategies that will help achieve the goals, including institutional arrangements, thereby advancing national interest and promoting economic development.

Today, as you start to discuss the vision and action plan for the ASEM Oceans Initiative, I hope that you strongly take into consideration strategies and activities from current initiatives of ASEM member-countries and lessons learned from implementation of various programs and projects on coastal and marine management at the national, regional and inter-regional level.

In formulating the action plan in the areas of ocean governance, marine environment protection and marine scientific research, always consider the identification of programs and projects that could be undertaken through intra-regional, inter-governmental and multi-sectoral partnerships as this will ensure the implementation sustainability of the action plan.  Likewise, clearly identify the mechanism by which the ASEM Oceans Initiative can be integrated into the ASEM process and how it can be adopted as an area of ASEM cooperation.

Finally, I would like to thank you for your presence and participation to this Technical Working Group Meeting, because the outcome of this meeting will certainly provide the framework of cooperation among ASEM countries that will ensure the sustainable use of our oceans for the benefit of the present and future generations.

Thank you and mabuhay!