SUAKCREM donates marker on Apo Island commemorating nat’l scientist’s legacy

(L-R) Jireh Jim A. Hisona, former SUAKCREM staff volunteer; Gianani A. Gloria, former SUAKCREM liaison officer; Dr. Rene A. Abesamis, SUAKCREM research fellow; Dr. Garry R. Russ, SUAKCREM research collaborator; Geraldine O. Lopez, SUAKCREM technical staff; Dr. Robert S. Guino-o II, SUAKCREM director; and Jasper Leif P. Maypa, SUAKCREM technical staff, during the turnover of the marker for the Apo Island Marine Procted Area, commemorating Dr. Angel C. Alcala, last November 26, 2023.

The Silliman University Angelo King Center for Research and Environmental Management (SUAKCREM) donated a marker on Apo Island commemorating the legacy of National Scientist and Sillimanian, Dr. Angel C. Alcala.

Dr. Robert S. Guino-o II, SUAKCREM director, said the marker was brought to Apo Island last November 26, 2023 and will be installed at the visitors’ entrance to the Apo Island Marine Protected Area (MPA), as agreed upon by the Protected Area Management Board of Apo Island.

The inscription on the marker recognizes how Alcala’s leadership helped establish in 1982 the Apo Island MPA as the second community-managed marine reserve in the Philippines, after the marine reserve of Sumilon Island which Alcala also helped establish.

Apo Island was declared a protected area under the National Integrated Protected Areas System (NIPAS) law through Proclamation No. 438, s. 1994. The NIPAS Act of 1992 (Republic Act No. 7586), enacted primarily for biodiversity conservation, provides the legal and developmental framework for the establishment and management of protected areas in the Philippines.

The inscription also states that the island is “now called the Apo Island Protected Landscape and Seascape” and “continuously aspires to be an excellent model for coastal resource management and establishing ‘no-take marine reserves’ in the Philippines and around the world.”

A marker for the Apo Island Marine Procted Area, commemorating Dr. Angel C. Alcala