Typhoon Sendong in 2011 and Typhoon Pablo in 2012 are the two top destroyers of coral reefs in southern Philippines. Both typhoons decimated the hard corals of Apo Marine Reserve and other reefs in southeastern Negros. These marine reserves had hardly begun to recover from the devastation by Sendong on December 17, 2011 when it was hit again by Pablo almost one year later on December 4, 2012. It is uncertain whether the Apo and Dauin (Negros Oriental) reefs will ever recover to its previous state before 2011, should the weather trends continue in the future.
But of greater concern is the effect of typhoons that are considered super typhoons (such as Sendong and Pablo) on the biodiversity, including fishery species, of coral reefs in southern Philippines. One can appreciate this statement if he/she considers the fact that more coral species and possibly fish species occur in southern Philippines than in northern Philippines. It follows that the economic value of coral reef biodiversity in southern Philippines may be shown to exceed that in northern Philippines.
Since 1980s, typhoons hitting the country below the 10-degree latitude seem to be increasing in frequency toward the end of the year. These low-latitude typhoons have destroyed the coral reefs along their paths. Typhoon Nitang in 1984 destroyed coral reefs in the Central Visayas, notably Sumilon Island Reef and Pescador Island Reef off western Cebu Island. Typhoon Ruping in 1991 destroyed Sagay and Catarman reefs according to Dr. Perry Alino. Typhoon Frank devastated coral reefs in Bantayan Island, off northern Cebu Island in 2008. Typhoon Sendong decimated Apo Island Reef and other reefs off Dauin, Negros Oriental in 2011 and Typhoon Pablo did it again in 2012. Typhoon Pablo has the distinction of killing hard corals and hundreds of giant clams in the Cantaan (Camiguin) Giant Clam Sanctuary. These records are only the ones observed by us or were reliably reported to us. But I am sure that these records are incomplete. Many more affected reefs in the Bohol Sea, for example, probably have remained unreported.
It should be noted that Ruping occurred seven years after Nitang. Frank occurred 17 years after Ruping. But Sendong came only three years after Frank. Pablo beats them all; he followed Sendong only after less than one year! And he added one destructive act; he almost decimated the Clam Sanctuary on the island of Camiguin in addition to reducing live coral cover on Camiguin reefs.
To say the least, the trend in the occurrence of destructive typhoons in the southern part of the country is frightening because we stand to lose the sources of our sea food on which many coastal communities depend. It is even more frightening because we cannot do anything about it.
How do we explain the decreasing number of years of the occurrence of destructive typhoons affecting southern Philippines?
