YOUR home is a 15- by 12-meter box on stilts, sitting on a sandbar in the middle of the wide blue ocean, with no running water and just a few hours? worth of generator power each day. You get around by speedboat, most often in the dead of night, and occasionally amidst crashing waves and strong winds. Your office is a 100-square kilometer marine park some 12 hours from the nearest land, and your job is to protect it from every kind of threat. And you have to do this for two months at a time, away from loved ones, telephones, and a lot of conveniences that many take for granted.

?It can get lonely,? says Navy Radioman Second Class Elmer ?Jhing? de los Santos, Petty Officer-in-Charge of the Tubbataha Marine Park Rangers. De los Santos recalls how he has missed a few milestones in his family life, including the elementary school graduation of his eldest child last year. ?I just tell my family, we have to sacrifice because this is Papa?s job ? and my job is to help guard Tubbataha for our future.?

The Tubbataha Marine Park Rangers are a composite group of military men from the Philippine Navy and the Philippine Coast Guard, as well as civilians from the municipality of Cagayancillo and from the Tubbataha Management Office (TMO). All year long, they watch over the Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park (TRNP) in the Sulu Sea, some 150 kilometers from Puerto Princesa in Palawan.

Because of its stunning natural beauty, world-class biodiversity ? scuba divers come from all over the world to dive here ? and its economic importance as a spawning ground for fish that feeds the entire archipelago, Tubbataha became the first and largest National Marine Park in the country in 1988. It was also declared a World Heritage Site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (Unesco) on Dec. 11, 1993 ? the only purely marine World Heritage Site in Southeast Asia.

The Rangers must undergo three days of training to learn proper procedure as well as the concept of conservation ? a relatively new idea to some of them, says Tubbataha Park Manager Angelique Songco, who heads the TMO, the agency that carries out policies for the multi-sectoral Tubbataha Protected Area Management Board.

?They all know what to do in terms of enforcement, but we have to make sure everyone understands why they are here. They can?t keep wondering, I?m a soldier, why am I watching fish and coral? They must understand that conservation is an issue of national security.?

Apparently, the men have taken their task to heart. ?I finally realized the importance of the environment,? says Navy Seaman Second Class Richard Iglesias. ?Before, I would wreck corals just to get to the fish. Now I know better; when I think about how long it takes for corals to grow, and what damage I?m doing, my conscience bothers me.?

?I?ve seen how dynamite and cyanide can destroy the coral,? says Marco Bungar, who works for the municipality of Cagayancillo, of which Tubbataha is a part. ?In Cagayancillo, there are no fish anymore. If we don?t protect this place, in the end we might lose our livelihood.?

Life for the Rangers is busy, despite the tranquility of the surroundings. The station sits at the edge of Tubbataha?s South Atoll, in a lagoon that is off limits to visitors. Their main task is to go on nightly patrols, to guard against illegal fishermen who sneak into the park after dark. Because of their presence since 1996, dynamite and cyanide fishing have been eliminated. Now, however, illegal fishers come to harvest trocus or samong, a shell used to make decorations and buttons.

?Patrolling is the hardest part, and sometimes you don?t know if they?re carrying weapons,? says Jolver Calingao, also a Cagayancillo municipal employee. The rangers are trained not to frighten the fishermen, but to explain to them why they are being apprehended. ?You have to tell them that this is a protected area,? says De los Santos. ?They can?t just take what they want.?

Also important is the Rangers? contribution to conservation research, as they regularly tag turtles and survey the birds on Bird Islet in the North Atoll, the largest roosting place of seabirds in Southeast Asia. All data is submitted to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR). Of late, they have been removing harmful crown of thorns starfish, which destroy corals.

The men sleep on double-decker bunks, but not very soundly. When they?re not on nightly patrol, they man a 24-hour radio, as all boats in the area must check in with them. Fresh water and food are brought to the station with each new shift, but the rangers supplement this by collecting rainwater and using salt water for cleaning. They are also allowed to fish for their consumption, and plant vegetables in pots.

During diving season, in the Philippine summer months between February and June, the reefs are more accessible, and visitors often stop by the station. In the rainy season, however, Tubbataha becomes isolated, and the rangers must keep busy to fight off loneliness, the bane of their existence. Although they can make weekly calls to loved ones on the station?s satellite phone, the calls are expensive.

?Sometimes, you would rather not hear their voices, because you miss them more,? says Manny Bundal, who works with the TMO. ?So we just distract ourselves with work.?

That?s why Songco visits her boys whenever she can, bringing supplies and entertainment, such as a karaoke machine and a DVD player. ?She always brings us pasalubong [gifts],? says Iglesias of their ?mother.?

?It can be a challenge to keep morale up,? says Songco, ?and enforcement is 95 percent morale.?

Still, realizing the value of what they are protecting becomes easier in the face of beautiful sunsets, brilliant corals, and the healthy marine life just outside their window.

?We used to just hear stories about them or see them on TV,? says Navy Seaman Second Class Secille Balot of the turtles, manta rays, sharks, and fish he has become so familiar with. ?I hope my future children could see them someday,? he adds. ?