The Team on the ship’s deck: Marc Nelson (foreground) takes groufie; front row, Ram Yoro and Paul San Pedro; middle row, Angelique Songco, Boogs Rosales, the author, and Danny Ocampo; back row, Ivan Tores Stella and Jürgen (Yogi) Freund
WHAT would you do for something you love? In the case of the Philip Stein WatchTubbataha Expedition Team, it was a no-brainer, actually.
Last year, Lucerne Group of Companies managing director Emerson Yao, who represents the luxury watch brand Philip Stein in the Philippines, met with Yvette Lee of the Discovery Fleet, owner of the dive boat Discovery Palawan. The plan was to bring together a team of underwater photographers and videographers to document the place for an exhibit and book launch in 2025. All team members would be asked to work pro bono—but in exchange, Philip Stein would make a substantial donation to the Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park (TRNP). I wasn’t in the meeting, but I’m pretty sure Yvette said that would not be a problem.
Sadly, Yvette Lee, friend to many and a maverick of the Philippine diving industry, passed away suddenly last Nov. 7, 2024. The expedition and project took on additional meaning: Aside from launching Philip Stein’s first ever divers’ watch, simply named Tubbataha, and paying tribute to these UNESCO World Heritage reefs in the Sulu Sea, the effort also became a remembrance of sorts for Yvette, whose pictures the team unanimously agreed to include in the planned exhibition and book launch to accompany the watch’s introduction.
The Team with the biggest heroes of all, the Tubbataha Marine Park Rangers, in the ranger station
Thus, by February 2025, I had joined the team, as writer, headed by a new expedition leader, photographer and acclaimed filmmaker Boogs Rosales, and including some truly respected names in Philippine underwater photography: Ram Yoro, Jürgen and Stella Freund (who were serendipitously in the Philippines, as they are now based in Cairns, Australia), Danny Ocampo, and Boogs’ assistant filmmaker Ivan Torres. Joining us were on-cam models: TV personality and host Marc Nelson, himself a scuba diver for many years, and no less than TRNP’s protected area superintendent herself, Angelique Songco, aka Mama Ranger. Banker and Emerson Yao’s friend Paul San Pedro came along as well.
The author picking coral-eating ‘Drupella’ shells, by special assignment from Mama Ranger (Photograph by Ram Yoro)
Thus, last May 15–21, the whole lot of us flew to Puerto Princesa and boarded the M/Y Stella Maris for five diving days in Tubbataha. It was my job to interview team members, especially on what Tubbataha meant to them, and to document the goings-on. Also, I simply had to stay out of the way, as the team focused on on-cam models Marc and Angelique. Marc had this unnerving way of crossing his legs in a meditative pose while floating effortlessly in the water, a vision captured by Ivan for the video produced for the watch launch, Time in the Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park (incidentally, the same name as the coffeetable book full of gorgeous images, some of which you see here). Then Boogs shot Angelique (whom everybody called Mama, short for Mama Ranger) swimming in the midst of three different schools of fish—a true image of the biodiversity and magnificence she has spent 25 years protecting.
Marc in Zen mode, in a screenshot from the video (footage by Ivan Torres)
“Parang pag nanganak ka, di ba they say, the pain is just so unbearable,” Angelique says jokingly about the challenges she has faced along the way. “But pag ikuwento mo na siya, hirap i-explain yung pain, but you forget all of it because you see your child.” People give this determined leader all the credit, which she refuses to keep for herself. “I think I was successful because there were many other people who were dedicated and inspired, and knew in their hearts that this was a worthwhile cause.”
The nurse shark couldn’t be bothered. (Photograph by Danny Ocampo)
Most wonderfully, however, as what happens when you unleash a bunch of talented lensmen with sharp eyes for the highlights of nature, you end up with images of the unexpected. There was Danny Ocampo stealthily creeping up on an adorable nurse shark asleep in a cave, or Yogi Freund finding a small ray hiding under hard corals. Yvette had even captured the moment when Long-Nosed Emperor Fish changed color before one’s very eyes, a magical kind of camouflage.
Yvette Lee’s mesmerizing school of barracuda
When she wasn’t modeling, Angelique, as my friend is wont to do, grabbed the opportunity to hunt for Drupella snails, nasty little coral-eating pests that chomp away at the base of hard corals. She thrust an extra pair of tweezers and a mesh bag into my hands, demanding assistance, so Ram managed to shoot me collecting the little boogers; we found much less than we did during our last time in Tubbataha, so she insists we were instrumental in ridding the entire Sulu Sea of this scourge.
Angelique Songco diving amidst schools of fish (Photograph by Boogs Rosales)
Ram also had beautiful shots of Angelique hovering peacefully above the corals—after he managed to capture the sleek white underside of a manta ray! I caught a glimpse of a juvenile tiger shark, which had me screaming; I’m glad our divemaster saw it too, or nobody would have believed me.
The best part was, we all knew each other, ate a lot (kudos to the Stella Maris for the great crew and even better food), and had a wonderful time. Over the next few weeks, the work proceeded in earnest to assemble footage and create a video, and for my part, to help Boogs choose pictures and write the accompanying words for the book.
Shamelessly flexing our Philip Stein watches
By the time the launch took place on Sept. 2, 2025 at the Gallery of Greenbelt 5, we had guests ooh-ing and aah-ing not just at the mouthwatering versions of the Philip Stein Tubbataha Titanium Professional Diver’s Watch, but at the gorgeous photographs displayed on large backlit frames. Will Stein, co-founder of Philip Stein and a self-confessed nature boy, expressed how delighted he was at the chance to contribute to Tubbataha’s well-being. “Corporate social responsibility, especially in relation to the environment, is in Philip Stein’s DNA,” notes Emerson Yao. “In the US, they plant a lot of trees. So, what better to highlight in the Philippines than the beauty of our seas, our coral reefs, the beauty of our islands?”
“I think it’s always good to find the right sponsors, the right funding to make sure that we’re able to continue conservation efforts,” adds Boogs. “Tubbataha is one of the most colorful places in the world. And it’s in the Philippines—something that we should be proud of, and something that we should protect.”
Thus did the efforts of the WatchTubbataha Expedition Team bear much fruit—to help introduce the Philip Stein Tubbataha Watch to the world, to chronicle our beloved Tubbataha Reefs, and to concretely help contribute to their protection: We all hooted with joy when Will Stein presented Philip Stein’s donation to Angelique and the TRNP, a giant check for a much-needed P2 million.
