Citing the potential destruction of the large-scale habitat of Panaon Island in Southern Leyte, Senator Cynthia A. Villar wants to declare it a protected area.

"Despite the presence of extensive coral reefs and vibrant fish communities, the abundance and biomass of commercially important species show signs of overfishing," Villar observed.

This prompted the chairperson of the Senate agriculture and environment committee to file Senate Bill 1690 to be known as "Panaon Island Protected Seascape Act of 2023."

Based on the records and suitability assessments by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR)-Biodiversity Management Bureau (BMB), there are still numerous sites in the country that should be declared ‘protected area’ and one of them is the Panaon Island Seascape, Villar said.

The Panaon Island Seascape, which is in the southern tip of Southern Leyte, is under the jurisdiction of four municipalities- Liloan, San Francisco, Pintuyan and San Ricardo.

Villar noted that Panaon Island is known to have good to excellent coral reefs.

"With 41 percent of the coral reefs surveyed (11 of 27), it is estimated to have greater than 50 percent hard coral cover - a rarity in the country nowadays," she said.

"Reef-associated fish communities at the different reef areas around Panaon Island were found to have moderate richness and very high abundance," she added.

"Endemic wildlife such as Philippine ducks or Anas luzonica and the endangered whale shark or Rhincodon typus species are frequently sighted around the island," she pointed out.

She also stressed that Panaon Island is identified as part of the 50 priority reefs in the world that will highly likely withstand the devastating impacts of climate change.

Hence, the urgent need for protection and conservation.

As of January 2023, there are already 114 protected areas in the Philippines that have been declared through legislation.