2 – 4 May 2009 N10 46.959 E119 26.645 Typhoon Crising went past the Western side of Occidental Mindoro, causing a downpour in Taytay, Palawan. These were unusual times, the locals said. The town fiesta on May 1-4 had always been graced with sunny weather and Amihan (or northeast tradewinds) in the past. Now the […]

2 – 4 May 2009 N10 47.016 E119 24.122 Finally, we have good Internet connection! We’re back in Manila, and can backtrack and report on the last three weeks of our Palawan adventure. We’ll start with rare dolphins . . . We could not imagine going to Malampaya Sound for just a few days, thinking we would […]

Angelique Songco manages the Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park in Palawan with a lot of passion It’s late one summer morning, the sun is illuminating the crystal-clear waters of the magnificent Sulu Sea—and it’s a fierce war zone in the 4,737-hectare lagoon of the North Atoll of  the Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park in Palawan, the Philippines. Above […]

The sting It’s been over a week since I got back from the first leg of the WWF Coral Triangle Initiative Photographic Expedition of J�rgen and Stella Freund to Tubbataha in the Sulu Sea, but it took a while to type out the tale. You see, I was a casualty of war – that is, the […]

27/28 April 2009 N10 16.195 E119 29.038 We spent an enlightening day and night on Green Island, Palawan. About 2,000 people, children included, live there. There are 360 households, and if you do the math, that’s about an average of 5.5 people per household.  One family has 14 children! You could walk this small, elongated fishing village […]

26 April 2009 N10 18.839 E119 22.725 Many thanks to Boy Bonoan and Ofie Rondina of the Palawan Provincial Government, our land transport to Northern Palawan was all organized. Once in Roxas, a scenic two-hour coastal ride north from Puerto Princesa, our guide Albert Ladica met us at our Pension.  Albert is the Fisheries Technician […]

22/23/24 April 2009 N9 43.424 E118 45.818 Now back on land with all our gear full of salt, we shifted gears and spent slow quality time cleaning and maintaining our stuff. We also had to re-energize and plan our next Palawan trips to Roxas, Taytay and El Nido.  Still with swollen fingers, Alya flew back […]

21 April 2009 N8 51.086 E119 55.042 The guests onboard Oceana Maria joined in gathering COTS. Among them was Luli Arroyo, the Philippine President’s daughter and Southeast Asia Policy Officer for WWF Coral Triangle Programme. The fervor did not abate and as the stabbing sticks were not enough, rangers watched as we all gathered. Alya […]

20 April 2009  N8 55.799 E119 59.790 Order of the day was an early morning group picture of the rangers with manager Angelique and WWF expedition visitors Alya, Yogi & I. After breakfast, we photographed WWF ranger Choy and TMO ranger Manny diving a coral reef near the station. They monitored through transects the health […]

19 April 2009 N8 55.799 E119 59.790 Woke up at 5:45am – gee it’s overcast. By 6:30, while I was using nature’s toilet, the heavens opened. We all thought it was a good thing the rains didn’t happen at night! Equipped with raincoats, we continued shooting after breakfast. Secille and Choy found a dead brown […]