Sounds like a dangerous area...
Facts & Figures – Apo Reef
www.apo-reef.com
Also in Sulu Sea.
You have to decide it yourself.
Incidentally, I have dived Davao and General Santos in Southern Mindanao and Surigao is Northern Mindanao. Camiguin is not very far from Mindanao.
Basilan for a foreign tourist.