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'Pawikan' meat sold in Cebu barangay
By Nestor B. Ramirez, VERA Files
Posted at 05/20/2012 11:43 PM | Updated as of 05/20/2012 11:43 PM


CEBU CITY—Business is brisk, judging from the throng of people and cars parked outside this makeshift eatery in Pasil, a shoreline barangay.

The customers, some in long sleeves and tie, do not mind the heat and the dishevelled slum area. They are here for one reason: To eat their favorite stewed dish of sea turtle or pawikan, an endangered species whose hunting, sale and killing have been banned by law since 2001.

The Wildlife Conservation Act, or Republic Act No. 9147, penalizes violators with a fine of up to P100,000 and imprisonment of up to one year.

The pawikan appears on the list of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), having become endangered because of poaching, slaughter, blast fishing, illegal trade and pollution.

A signatory of the CITES, the Philippines, through the Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, has implemented the Pawikan Conservation Project nationwide.

Animal welfare groups, meanwhile, consider the whole month of May as the Month of the Ocean, which promotes conservation and protection of sea creatures.

But Basilisa Piaquinto, head of the Protected Area and Wildlife (PAW) of the Community Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) here, expressed helplessness over the sale of the contraband in Pasil.

Vendors, mostly ambulant, have wised up and now sell pawikan meat already cut up, making it difficult for authorities to tell it apart from other meat, she said. And eateries are temporary structures that are easy to dismantle, allowing them to elude authorities.

Piaquinto said the vendors themselves know they are violating the law, but the demand for pawikan meat has kept the trade going.

Often eaten with corn grits and sold for P60 a bowl, the stewed pawikan is commonly believed to be an aphrodisiac, explaining its popularity among men.

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Kinaham diay nis mga tang-an ug mga sungayan bwahahaha 



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Philippines goes after sea turtle restaurants
AFP News – Mon, May 21, 2012


The Philippines on Monday said it would form a special task force to go after restaurants selling the meat of protected sea turtles.

The eight-member team was created after news reports revealed the proliferation of roadside restaurants in the central island of Cebu serving dishes made from the government-protected marine animals.

"The task force is created to pursue and initiate an aggressive protection and conservation movement of the endangered marine turtles which are now on the verge of total depletion," regional environment chief Maximo Dichoso said.

The team was instructed to investigate the trading, hunting, sale, and killing of marine turtles in the area, the environment department said.

News reports said numerous small eateries in a coastal district of Cebu City were serving dishes made from sea turtle.

Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama conceded that the practice had been going on for a long time but there had been no concerted effort to stop it.

Those caught trading, hunting, collecting or killing sea turtles, which are considered an endangered species, face a fine of 100,000 pesos ($2,350) and one year in jail.

The discovery of Chinese fishermen catching sea turtles and other protected marine species in the South China Sea last month triggered a high-profile maritime standoff between Philippine and Chinese ships.

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Hmm, inside info galing...

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