Tubbataha, For Always: Angelique Songco Is Not Yet Finished Dreaming

After watching over Tubbataha Reefs for 25 years, Angelique Songco still has dreams she wants to see realized. She tells Vogue Philippines, “The legacy that I want to leave is that it is possible to have a coral reef like Tubbataha.”

For over two decades, one woman has defended Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park from the forces that threaten the sanctuary of marine biodiversity in the heart of the Sulu Sea. As Tubbataha’s Protected Area Superintendent (PASu), Angelique Songco, affectionately called “Mama Ranger,” has helped transform the once-vulnerable ecosystem into the crown jewel of dive destinations in the Philippines, and the country’s most successful marine conservation story.

“Mama Ranger, what do we do if the government decides to open up Tubbataha Reefs to commercial fishing?” I remember asking her this question on a trip to the reefs in 2018. It was during the volatile and unpredictable political climate of then-President Rodrigo Duterte’s term, when anything seemed possible.

Without batting an eyelash, and still with a motherly smile, she replied, “Ah, lalaban tayo [We will fight].” This brief exchange stuck with me since then. Songco is known for her tenacity, and I was seeing it up close.

Translated from the Sama language as “Long reef exposed at low tide,” Tubbataha is comprised of two atolls: The North and South atolls, and the Jessie Beazley Reef, with the whole protected area forming a triangular shape that points northwest toward the island of Palawan. 

The diving season in Tubbataha runs from March to June each year, when conditions are ideal. Divers from around the world fly into Puerto Princesa then hop on a liveaboard boat for the eight to 12-hour crossing through the open ocean. With no habitable land in sight, guests spend the next five days on the boat, when they’re not under the water. 

Tubbataha is home to pristine reefs that are composed of over 360 species of coral and provide a home to close to 600 species of fish. Divers regularly encounter reef and pelagic sharks and rays, swim with sea turtles, and witness pods of dolphins, an experience that represents the best of what the Coral Triangle has to offer. Meanwhile, Bird Islet can be found above the North Atoll, providing a crucial nesting ground for migratory seabirds.

The importance of Tubbataha cannot be overstated. The marine park has earned several significant recognitions: it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the recipient of the prestigious Blue Park Award in 2017 for being one of the best-managed, large no-take Marine Protected Areas in the world. It is also on the Ramsar list of Wetlands of National Importance, and in 2022 was named a Hope Spot by Mission Blue, the international marine conservation organization founded by Dr. Sylvia Earle.

At a time when nearly 50 percent of the world’s coral reefs have disappeared or are damaged and fish stocks are collapsing due to destructive human activity and industrial overfishing, marine protected areas like Tubbataha serve as the last bastions for vital ocean ecosystems. 

Tubbataha’s emergence as a dive destination was the result of an accident. In the early 1970s, a cargo vessel carrying cattle ran aground on the reef, and the operators hired people from Puerto Princesa to assist with the salvage operations. 

“One of those who helped was a fisherman named Capsi,” Songco recalls, “who later relayed to Norman [Songco, her future husband] that they saw big fish there.” He then asked them to bring him to the area so he could check it out. 

Norman Songco, who at the time was operating small diving boats in Puerto Princesa, was astonished by what he found there: “I remember him saying that when they visited Tubbataha to spearfish, their spears would break because of how big the fish were.” 

The Tubbataha of the ‘70s and ‘80s was teeming with life. Coastal fish stocks around Palawan were still abundant, so fishermen rarely had to venture far out to sea.

Before meeting Norman, Angelique sought out adventure by joining the Philippine Navy.  “I thought it was going to be exciting,” she says. “Not many women were in the armed forces at that time. And it was such a different field. However, I was still studying when I joined and only had a desk job. After five years, I left because I found the job too boring. I left even before I graduated.” 

Her connection with Tubbataha Reefs began after graduation, when she became a dive professional and started working on dive boats heading to Tubbataha. There were only about four boats that made the journey there during the summer months, and sometimes, she worked with Norman on his boats.

As fishing pressure increased in the 1980s, Tubbataha’s open access led fishermen from distant provinces to the reefs, where they would use destructive cyanide fishing methods. With no policies in place, even Chinese longliners were operating in the surrounding waters. A 1984 field study done by marine biologist Alan White documented a dramatic decline in coral cover due to destructive fishing practices.

The only semblance of protection came in the form of citizen arrests made by the dive operators. “But they didn’t have any grounds to arrest or expel them either because the reef wasn’t protected yet,” Songco says. “And these dive operators would also cast their anchors on the reef and even take guests to the (now forbidden) islets. They also had a negative impact.”

In 1987, concerned members of the local provincial council wrote to then-President Corazon Aquino, appealing for the protection of Tubbataha. A year later, Aquino issued a presidential proclamation establishing Tubbataha Reefs National Marine Park (TRNMP), the first national marine park in the Philippines. Despite this historic milestone, not much had changed.

“On paper, it was clear what had to be done, but there were no funds or people to do it. It was only in 1995 when President Ramos, after diving the reefs, established Task Force Tubbataha that formal protection started,” Songco explains. What Ramos did was groundbreaking. The former president created a multi-sectoral task force with members from the government and private sectors: the military, the academe, NGOs, and government agencies such as BFAR and DENR. “Participation as a concept was new at the time, but he did it. And all these groups are still members of the Protected Area Management Board (PAMB) which was established in 1999, until today.” In 2001, the Tubbataha Management Office (TMO) was founded with funds from the World Wildlife Fund. 

When the board decided that a park manager needed to be appointed, Songco, already a member of the board as a representative of the NGO Saguda Palawan, felt compelled to apply. “At this point, I have already been diving Tubbataha for a long time and have been a witness to all the illegal fishing going on. If you are given an opportunity to do something good, you take it,” she recalls.

From 2002, Angelique and her staff at the TMO worked on establishing a legal framework for enforcement on the reefs. This later became Republic Act 10067, otherwise known as the TRNP Act of 2009, legally defining the authority of the Tubbataha PAMB to impose sanctions on violators. It was such an innovative policy that in 2012, it was awarded the World Future Policy Award, which celebrates ‘outstanding policy solutions that benefit current and future generations.’

“The legacy that I want to leave is that it is possible to have a coral reef like Tubbataha,” Songco declares. “I’ve been doing this for 25 years, and I’ve learned that you still can’t leave it on autopilot.”

Even as she approaches her mid-60s, Mama Ranger continues to be involved in the reef’s day-to-day protection. She regularly visits the reef for on-ground work, such as installing new mooring lines, accompanying bird and turtle research surveys, and checking on the rangers who spend 60 days on the reef per deployment. She tirelessly campaigns for the improvement of infrastructure and participates in public campaigns to keep Tubbataha in the national consciousness. 

“I’m turning 65 next year, and I’m only considering extending a few years because I have a new dream.” She explains that her dreams have long gestation periods: “In 1998, I wrote the governor of Puerto Princesa about the need for a new lighthouse. It was only completed in 2020. The next one was the ranger station. The design was approved in 2013, and until now it hasn’t been completed. It’s only now that the project is moving again because the DENR is funding the bulk of the cost of the station.”

“My next dream is for us to have our own boat, a vessel that we can use for research and for transporting rotating rangers,” she shares. That, however, may take another 12 years, based on how long her big-ticket projects have taken to complete. At the very least, she says she would like to see the completion of the new ranger station.

Even if Songco isn’t at the helm to see her dreams realized, she’s confident that her staff can carry the baton of managing and protecting the reef. “Some of my staff have been with me for 12 to 15 years. I have an assistant PASu, Retch (Pagliawan-Alaba), who I’ve been training for many years. They’re more skilled, they’re even better than me.”

Tubbataha has been a calling for Mama Ranger, and it is also a family legacy. Her two children, Giga and Nathan, have followed in her footsteps and are both dive instructors who lead expeditions to the reefs. “We’ve all fallen in love with Tubbataha,” she says with a smile.

You cannot help but be inspired and in awe of Songco when she talks about the marine sanctuary she has dedicated herself to for decades. I always urge friends who are visiting Tubbataha to take a side trip to the Tubbataha Management Office for the chance to say hi to this remarkable woman.  

Not everyone will have the opportunity to meet Mama Ranger in person, but Tubbataha guests will definitely see her in the briefing video shown at the beginning of each trip. In her characteristic warm and motherly but authoritative tone, she outlines the park’s rules before delivering the line: “If you don’t, Mama will be very angry. After all, mama knows best.” This part never fails to elicit chuckles from guests, who are immediately assured that, while she has a great sense of humor, Mama Ranger does not kid around.

The video ends with Angelique thanking the viewers for helping preserve Tubbataha while making a sweeping gesture with her arm: “…for always.” We jokingly say that “Tubbataha… for always” has become her catchphrase, but those who know her work understand that this has been her mission from the very beginning, and one that we also share. 

If not for the collective effort of the TMO staff, the PAMB, the rangers, the guests and operators, the patrons, and, of course, Mama Ranger herself, we might have lost this irreplaceable Eden. Instead, we have Tubbataha in all its wild glory, for always. 

Words & Photographs by NOEL GUEVARA. Producer: Bianca Zaragoza. Photographer’s Assistant: Jose Maria Guevara.