RP world center of marine biodiversity

Report of Ces Drilon on ABS-CBN Bandila news program based on the World Conservation Union's Dr. Kent Carpenter who presented the results of his landmark study on the world's marine species in a public forum on October 13, 2006. "The Center of the Center of Marine Shorefish Biodiversity: The Philippine Islands," has significant implications because it identifies the Philippines as being home to an astonishingly high marine life. In particular, Verde Island Passage, a domestic sea route that encompasses the provinces of Batangas, Marinduque, Mindoro Occidental, Mindoro Oriental and Romblon, was cited by Carpenter and co-author Victor Springer of the Smithsonian Institution as the "center of the center" of global marine fish shore biodiversity.