November 2022
The Port Assessment cum Capacity Building for Port of Subic Bay were conducted by DENR-BMB in partnership with Tanggol Kalikasan (TK) on Port of Subic Bay from November 9-11, 2022 at Subic Bay Peninsular Hotel, Subic, Zambales. The activity was part of TK’s programmatic approach which is support to Environmental Law Enforcement. The said port assessment was participated by government agencies led by DENR Region 3 and other partner government agencies of the region.
Partner agencies who attended included the Bureau of Customs (BOC), Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), Subic Bay Management Authority (SBMA), Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), Philippine National Police (PNP), PNP-Maritime Group (PNP-MG), Maritme Industry Authority (MARINA) and International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI) as representative from private industry.
The port assessment aims to: 1. determine the readiness of Port of Subic Bay, including the government agencies stationed or has jurisdiction in the same, to monitor and track wildlife trafficking; 2. jointly identify ways and approaches to enhance the capacity of Port of Subic Bay to address wildlife trafficking; and 3. provide recommendation to fill in the gaps as to the port and capacity of the agencies within the port to prevent wildlife trafficking.
TK used the Port Monitoring and Anti-Trafficking Evaluation (PortMATE) tool. The PortMATE tool provides a specific score based on fifty-two (52) questions for international ports spread over nine categories. These nine categories, namely: Category 1: Electronic Customs Declaration System (Electronic Permitting System for Domestic Port); Category 2: Intelligence; Category 3: Risk Profiling System; Category 4: Container/Cargo/Passenger Scanning; Category 5: Container/Cargo/Baggage Inspection; Category 6: Investigation and Prosecution; Category 7: Inter-Agency and International Collaboration; Category 8: Employee Integrity and Anti-Corruption; and Category 9: Supply Chain Security.
These indicators aimed to determine the readiness of the port, including the government agencies and private sectors operating therein to monitor and track illegal wildlife trade (IWT) of both terrestrial and aquatic species of flora and fauna, and identify gaps that would serve as baseline in monitoring the progress over time that would help the law enforcement agencies and private companies in Port of Subic Bay in their plan of actions to effectively combat IWT.