RDC 7 Supports Whaleshark Feeding

The Regional Development Council (RDC) 7 in its full council meeting Thursday expressed its support to Oslob’s whale shark-feeding.

RDC7 chairman and Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama said they cannot just make a “drastic move” to stop the feeding, especially that this part of Oslob has now become a tourist attraction.

The RDC7’s resolution came a week after RDC-Bicol region came out with its own resolution asking the Department of Tourism (DOT) to put a stop to the feeding citing health risks to the whale sharks thereby affecting its own eco-tourism in Donsol, Sorsogon.

But RDC7 upheld the Economic Development Council’s resolution recommending to the DOT not stop the feeding of the whale sharks.

The whaleshark watching activities in Barangay Tanawan, Oslob has already generated millions to the government coffers and jobs for the local fishers who now serve as guides to tourists. But despite this progress, environmentalists still insist that Oslob does away with the usual feeding so as not to make the sharks dependent.

These whale sharks are reportedly the same creatures that travel from Donsol and back to Oslob.