The Bohol Environment Management Office announced last week the launch of Operation Plan Sandagat, a multi-agency coastal law enforcement action against illegal fishing in Danajon Bank. The objective of OPLAN Sandagat is to conduct anti-illegal fishing campaign in the contiguous municipal waters of Danajon Bank despite the delicate months of election. Operation Plan sandagat is a combined land-based and seaborne operation spearheaded by the Coastal Law Enforcement Council District 2 (CLEC II) of Bohol and participated in by the municipalities of Talibon, Bien Unido, Ubay and Carlos P Garcia with manpower complement from the Bohol Provincial Police Office, the Philippine Navy and the Philippine Army. There are also Leyte-based LGUs that are participating namely Baybay, Hindang, Inopacan, Hilongos, Bato Leyte Province , Matalom and Maasin City of Southern Leyte Province. The Danajon Bank consists of the provinces of Bohol , Leyte , Southern Leyte and Cebu (CELEBOSOLE). The major threats to the coastal environment are using of dynamite in fishing, selling of dynamited fish, illegal selling of blasting caps, illegal collection of endangered shells, employment of minors in fishing and are operation of Danish seine also known as liba-liba operations inside municipal waters. Under the law all active gears and fishing boats that are more than 3 Gross Tonnage are prohibited from operating inside the 15 kilometers of municipal waters.

It has been customary for illegal fishing to proliferate during campaign period because many politicians are not inclined to support enforcement of special laws like fishery laws for fear of losing votes from arrested parties. The CLEC 2 under its chair Mayor Rey Niño Boniel of Bien Unido agreed with Mayor Juanario Item of Talibon, Mayor Eutiquio Bernales of Ubay and Mayor Tesalonica Boyboy of Pitogo (CPG) that an operation plan that is multi-agency and multi-LGU in nature should be in place at the time of the elections so as not to disrupt enforcement of fishery laws while they are busy campaigning. Boniel said, mayors of participating municipalities in district 2 as well as mayors in Leyte belong to different political parties but they all agreed to support OPLAN Sandagat and not to interfere in legitimate anti-illegal fishing police operations. He said they will appreciate if they can be insulated from pure police operations so as not to be tempted to even inquire as it may be tainted politically. Police Senior Superintendent Anthony Obenza, speaking in front of participating LGUs and team leaders from the Navy, Army and Coast Guard said OPLAN Sandagat will be beyond politics as all police officers swear to protect the environment at any time of the year as long as proper legal procedures are observed. Obenza said he sought the opinion of the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) Provincial Director about the OPLAN before agreeing to support it.

Under election period, the PNP is under the operational control of the Commission on Elections to ensure that no elective official will influence the assignment and deployment of the territorial police but that is not to say that the PNP is prevented to conduct routine police operations such as enforcement of environmental laws. This was made clear by COMELEC Provincial chairman Atty. Elesio Z.R.B. Labaria who spoke during the coordinating meeting held at JJ's Resort in Tagbilaran City. Labaria said the PNP must remain steadfast in enforcement of all Philippine laws, especially environmental laws but they will be required to update the COMELEC of the progress of the operation. A copy of OPLAN Sandagat was submitted by the PNP to the COMELEC. The PNP had been instructed to provide COMELEC periodic reports of the operations. Boyboy of the municipality of Carlos P Garcia said Task Force Kalikupan which her father founded will participate in OPLAN Sandagat as they always do in other operations in the last 7 years. She said she trusted Obenza and that PNP stationed in her municipality, being under COMELEC control, will exercise due diligence and will not favor any violator even if he is a voter of the LGU.

The Philippine Army 802nd Brigade has made its men in Talibon and Carlos P. Garcia available for augmentation in the event that the Bantay Dagat and PNP requests their assistance. Army Brigade Commander Victor Luga said OPLAN Sandagat is under the Bohol Local Integrated Security Service (BLISS) because it involved community-based enforcement environmental laws. The operation officer of the Special Forces had been attending coordinating meetings with the CLEC2 and PNP and has been fully briefed of the scope and limitations of the Philippine Army in environmental law enforcement. Luga said under Section 124 of Republic Act 8550 or the Fisheries Code, only the Philippine Navy, among the AFP major service commands have been given expressed mandate to enforce fishery laws and therefore the Philippine Army is hindered from leading any fishery enforcement operations however, it will not prevent the Navy or the PNP to request the Army to augment its forces when it deemed necessary because that is provided for in other laws and issuances. In many areas, the Philippine Army members are integrated to the Bantay Dagat where they are deputized by the Mayor as Fish Wardens and as such they are authorized to enforce all ordinances within municipal waters as a support to the Bantay Dagat and the PNP.

Domingo Legaleg, Chairman of Maasin City Bantay Dagat said his entire team is gearing to participate in the operations. There will be three patrol boats that will be made available to the operation. One of them, a speed boat of Maasin City will have a global positioning system and nautical charts mounted on-board with a fish examiner and uniformed policemen of the City manning the boat. They will be coordinating closely with the municipalities of CPG and Ubay and will respond to any pursuit operations anytime of the day or night. The Central Operations Centre (COC) will be the Coastal Resource Management Office of the municipality of Ubay headed by Alpios Delima with a secondary post located at the Municipal Agriculturist Office of the City of Baybay , Leyte under market administrator George Omolon. Councilor Wayne Evardo of Talibon said political leaders supporting OPLAN Sandagat have different and often quarreling political parties but in terms of protecting the Danajon Bank, there seem to be no quarrel about it because afterall, this (Danajon) is the food basket of the entire Bohol province.

This will be the first time that an operation of this magnitude done on a difficult and sensitive moment will be conducted said Obenza. He said he had yet to prove the determination, integrity and non-partisanship of municipal enforcement teams participating to say it is really successful. He said he had been assured by politicians that they will not interfere in any legitimate operations sanctioned by OPLAN Sandagat. The COMELEC will be constantly consulted should politicians interfere in anti-illegal fishing campaigns. The Bohol Environmental Management Office appeals to the media, the church leaders and the general public not only in Bohol but also in Leyte to monitor OPLAN SANDAGAT to help insulate it from political interventions especially during the campaign period.