Marine Scientists Seek Sustained Funding as Philippines Moves to Protect West Philippine Sea Ecosystems

A decade after the award, scientists seek a lasting research budget

Filipino marine scientists are calling for continuing government funding for West Philippine Sea research as the Philippines marks the tenth anniversary of the 2016 Arbitral Award and moves toward declaring protected areas in the Kalayaan Island Group. Their demand is practical: repeated surveys, reliable access to ships and equipment, and enough financial certainty to follow changes in marine ecosystems over time.

At a gathering in Quezon City on July 28, 2026, Fernando Siringan, a professor at the University of the Philippines Marine Science Institute, said government assistance had helped researchers but remained insufficient. His appeal came a day after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. used his State of the Nation Address to promise to uphold the award against expansive Chinese maritime claims.

Siringan acknowledged the support scientists had received while calling for a more dependable arrangement:

First, we thank the national government for all the support that we have received thus far. But that support is not sufficient. There needs to be a continuing support and a programmatic support.

The request comes as research produces concrete conservation findings: 49 fish species previously unrecorded in the Kalayaan Island Group, verified seagrass beds at Rizal Reef, and evidence that Pag-asa Island has been losing about 1,500 square meters of land annually. Those findings show what expeditions can establish. They also expose the need to keep returning to the same places to determine what is changing and why.

What stable funding would change

Marine researchers generally work through grants. They submit proposals, secure money if approved, and complete projects within deadlines while dealing with administrative requirements and uncertain conditions at sea. Equipment can accumulate through separate projects without a guaranteed budget for the next expedition.

A continuing research allocation would allow scientists to plan surveys as a sequence rather than as isolated opportunities. Repeated observations matter because a single visit can document a reef or fish community, but cannot establish whether its condition is improving or deteriorating.

Siringan described the cost of going to sea in direct terms:

To go at sea is not cheap.

Fuel and the crew needed to operate a research ship can already require millions of pesos. Fieldwork also places physical demands on crews, while seawater and difficult weather can damage equipment. A budget must therefore support the operation that gets scientists to a site, not simply the instruments used once they arrive.

The July appeal did not specify a requested annual allocation, an approved funding commitment, or a timetable for changing the grant system. The central demand is continuity: enough predictable support to carry out a research program over successive years.

A decline that repeated surveys can track

The funding argument predates the anniversary gathering. At a May 13, 2024 forum, University of the Philippines professors called for sustained monitoring of West Philippine Sea resources. The university's May 2024 forum account, published on May 30, records concerns about fishing pressure, climate change, plastic waste, oil spills, mangrove loss and damage to coral reefs.

Marine Science Institute director Laura David said the number of fish families found in the West Philippine Sea had fallen from 34 to 22 over 20 years. That is a reduction of 12 families, or about 35% of the original count. Fish families are broad biological groupings, so the figure is not equivalent to a 35% decline in fish abundance or fishing catches.

Jonathan Anticamara of the UP Institute of Biology also warned that the country lacked a systematic database for examining marine resources over time. The university account attributes to him a fisheries production decline of "more than 60% or 80%," but does not resolve which percentage applies or identify a comparable period and dataset. That statement cannot be treated as a precise national trend alongside David's fish family figures.

The distinction matters for policy. Reliable monitoring must establish what was measured, where, when and by which method. Without that consistency, dramatic figures can signal concern without providing a firm basis for assessing conservation results.

Research has expanded through an Australian partnership

Some capacity is already being built. The Palawan Council for Sustainable Development describes its Marine Resources Initiative in a marine research statement. The project involves the Australian Institute of Marine Science, Geoscience Australia, the University of Sydney and Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

The initiative combines technology, staff training and field assessments. Its progression shows how research infrastructure can develop over several years:

• December 2022: Collaboration agreements with the Australian Institute of Marine Science and Geoscience Australia established the partnership groundwork.
• Early 2023: Consultations and planning sessions developed the research and monitoring work.
• September 2023: ReefScan was officially in use across Palawan, including the West Philippine Sea.
• 2024: Assessments reached Pag-asa Island and Sandy Cays 1 and 2, with water quality measurements at six coastal monitoring stations.
• March 2025: The council's staff published two reports on Palawan's marine environment and nearshore seabed features.
• By 2025: Assessments had expanded to Lawak Island and Rozul Reef.

ReefScan Transom uses detailed underwater imagery and artificial intelligence to assess reefs. PCSD formally adopted ReefScan and the ReefCloud data processing platform through Resolution No. 24-1015 for coral monitoring in Palawan and Puerto Princesa.

The March 2025 publications were titled "2024 State of the Marine Environment of Palawan" and "Nearshore Marine Benthic Features of Palawan, The Philippines." Benthic features are habitats and organisms associated with the seabed. The assessments also supplied information for the Kalayaan Island Group Strategic Development Plan and Action Plan.

New records strengthen the case for protected areas

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources is moving to establish marine protected areas in ecologically important parts of the Kalayaan Island Group. Biodiversity expeditions conducted from 2017 to 2025 helped provide the scientific basis for that proposal.

The work involved the UP Marine Science Institute, the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, the Philippine Navy, the Philippine Coast Guard, the National Coast Watch Council and other institutions. Researchers documented 49 fish species previously unrecorded in the island group, including eagle rays and endangered wrasses. These are new records for the area, not necessarily species newly discovered by science.

Researchers also recorded rare corals and confirmed seagrass beds at Rizal Reef. That finding brought the number of Kalayaan Island Group sites with verified seagrass ecosystems to two. Verification establishes where such habitats have been documented; it does not establish that seagrass is absent from every location that has not been surveyed.

Environment Secretary Juan Miguel Cuna said the accumulated research supported conservation action:

Years of marine scientific research and expeditions have identified key ecosystems in the West Philippine Sea that are vital to Philippine biodiversity.

DENR says protected areas would safeguard biodiversity through scientific monitoring and enforcement of sustainable use guidelines. Baseline ecological data, an initial record of conditions against which later surveys can be compared, is essential to selecting sites and assessing whether protection works.

No final designation date, complete boundary list or detailed enforcement arrangement was identified in the reported announcement. The proposal therefore represents a move toward protection, rather than confirmation that the areas have already received protected status.

Pag-asa erosion shows why local measurements matter

UP Marine Science Institute research found that Pag-asa Island was the fastest eroding island among those assessed, losing around 1,500 square meters of land annually over the past two decades. Researchers linked the erosion to solid artificial structures extending from the coastline.

At that average rate, the loss would amount to approximately 30,000 square meters over 20 years, or three hectares. This is a calculation from the reported annual figure, not a separately measured total, and does not imply that the same area disappeared every year.

The finding points to a conservation issue that cannot be reduced to foreign activity alone. Structures along a coastline can affect how water and sediment move. Monitoring is needed to understand those changes and guide decisions about infrastructure, habitat protection and island development.

At the 2024 university forum, Siringan also called for studying hazards such as tsunamis, storm surges and floods when considering development on islands. Ecological assessments and hazard research address different problems, but both require observations that can inform decisions before construction proceeds.

The deep water gap remains substantial

Many of the studies presented at the July gathering covered shallow waters, at depths of 18 meters or less. Those surveys can reveal important information about reefs and coastal habitats, but they cannot describe the full range of life in deeper parts of the West Philippine Sea.

Extending research beyond those depths requires suitable equipment, ship access and sufficient time at sea. A productive shallow water survey should therefore not be mistaken for a complete inventory of the region.

Research stations could support continuity. In the university's 2024 forum account, Siringan referred to the Pagasa Island Research Station and plans for six additional marine stations across the country that year. Those were plans described in 2024, not confirmation that all six were subsequently completed.

Siringan encouraged researchers to collaborate through the stations. Shared facilities can support repeated fieldwork and wider participation, but their existence does not remove the need to fund crews, transport, maintenance and the analysis of collected samples.

Ocean governance and research funding are linked

Mariglo Laririt, assistant director of DENR's Biodiversity Management Bureau, argues that the funding issue also depends on assigning responsibility for ocean governance. She described the budget as "the carriage, not the horse," putting institutional leadership before financial arrangements.

Laririt said the bureau was working toward a national ocean environments policy to help decision makers determine where leadership should sit:

Meaning the budget will come if it becomes clear which is the lead agency for ocean governance.

DENR already has funding for managing and rehabilitating coastal and marine resources. Laririt distinguished that work from ocean governance, which requires the integration of activities across institutions.

The existing expeditions show why coordination matters. Universities conduct research, environmental agencies develop conservation proposals, fisheries authorities contribute sector knowledge, and maritime forces support operations in contested waters. A lead agency could clarify responsibility, but the reported policy work has not yet established which institution will take that role or how continuing research funding will be guaranteed.

The Marine Resources Initiative also supports the DOST-PCAARRD funded ReINVEST WPS Program on natural capital accounting. This approach records the condition and value of natural resources and the services they provide, including fisheries and carbon storage, so they can be considered in public planning.

Security commitments must reach the research vessel

Scientific work helped establish environmental damage from China's extensive reclamation activities in the case that produced the 2016 Arbitral Award. The award rejected expansive Chinese maritime claims. Sovereign rights over marine resources are distinct from sovereignty over land territory, a distinction that matters when discussing what the ruling settled.

Marcos promised in his July 2026 address to "do all that is necessary" to uphold the award, while thanking the Armed Forces, Coast Guard and fishers who operate at sea despite serious risks. Scientists face those risks as well. Siringan experienced harassment from Chinese maritime forces in 2024 while leading an acoustic and coral assessment at Escoda Shoal.

The political response also includes a proposed Senate investigation into the provisional understanding with China covering rotation and resupply missions to the grounded BRP Sierra Madre at Ayungin Shoal. Senator Francis Pangilinan filed Senate Resolution 536 seeking scrutiny of its consistency with the arbitral ruling and safeguards for Philippine sovereign rights. The Department of Foreign Affairs welcomed clarification at the appropriate forum. No hearing date was identified.

For marine research, the immediate question is whether national commitments will translate into sustained surveys, safe access and workable conservation management. Technology, partnerships and years of expeditions have already produced useful evidence. Continuing funding would let scientists test whether habitats are recovering, track emerging damage and measure the results of any protected area designation.

Key Points

• Marine scientists called on July 28, 2026 for continuing government funding rather than dependence on separate grants.
• DENR is moving toward marine protected areas in the Kalayaan Island Group, drawing on expeditions conducted from 2017 to 2025.
• Researchers documented 49 fish species previously unrecorded in the island group and confirmed seagrass beds at Rizal Reef.
• UP research found Pag-asa Island lost about 1,500 square meters of land annually over two decades.
• PCSD has expanded reef monitoring through Australian partnerships, ReefScan technology and marine assessments reaching Lawak Island and Rozul Reef.
• A continuing funding allocation, final protected area designations and a lead agency for ocean governance have not been established in the announced plans.