Mayor Garcia establishes reef protection program

Outgoing Cebu City Mayor Raymond Garcia issued Executive Order 15, Series of 2025 aimed at strengthening the city's initiatives to conserve and protect the reef ecosystem.

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This measure, which establishes the creation of the Cebu City Reef, followed years of collaborative conservation effort made by the Bantay Dagat Commission, Cebu Technological University and Knights-Stewards of the Sea Inc. as emphasized by the Cebu City Reef Rehabilitation Initiative.

A reef is a natural underwater ecosystem composed of coral, rock, or marine organisms that provide essential habitat for diverse marine life.

Due to overexploitation of marine resources, the City has established a protected area to safeguard biodiversity, restore fish populations, and promote sustainability.

To enforce reef protection, markings and mooring buoys will be installed to define the core and buffer zones.

The Office of the Mayor, through the Cebu City Environment and Natural Resource Office (CCENRO) and the Bantay Dagat, will oversee the administration and control of these designated areas.

Within the established protected reef, no person, natural and juridical, will be allowed to engage in any fishing activity in municipal waters without registration papers and/or valid licenses from the City Government.