By Jonathan L. Mayuga
Bantay Pawikan volunteers teach children to help save endangered marine turtles

In Photo: An olive ridley hatchling struggles to the shore in Barangay Nagbalayong, Morong, Bataan, upon release by visiting tourism students from PLT College on November 15; This rescued injured pawikan is an added attraction in the Pawikan Conservation Center.

‘Marine turtles are important. Why do we need them? Because they help maintain ecological balance. Do you know that marine turtles eat jellyfish? Without marine turtles, there will be plenty of jellyfish, and you cannot swim in the ocean because the jellyfish will get to you and sting you,” a jolly Manolo Ibias told a group of young students on November 15.

Ibias, more popularly known as Mang Manolo, is not a teacher. He is one of the Bantay Pawikan volunteers who run the Pawikan Conservation Center in Barangay Nagbalayong, Morong, Bataan, while the students were from the Learning Links Academy, a school based in Silang, Cavite. They were on a four-day “Bataan Immersion” in Morong, Bataan.

Mang Manolo shows visiting students the newly hatched olive ridley turtles during a briefing before releasing them back into the wild.

All eyes and ears were fixed on Mang Manolo, the chairman of the group Bantay Pawikan, as he gives lessons that are not normally taught inside the classroom.

Aided by a small projector and graphic illustration of the life cycle of a pawikan, Mang Manolo has been teaching young students visiting their small facility that was established to help save the endangered marine turtles.

Among his “students” that day were some parents who volunteered to join the immersion as they accompanied their children.
Jojie Sastrillo, 48, said the students, as well as their parents, were being taught about the value of marine turtles and why it is important to prevent their extinction.

She said she was happy to see her 11-year-old son, Lance, learn from the activity.

“What did you learn about jellyfish and marine turtles?” she asked Lance.

“Marine turtles are important because they eat jellyfish. Without marine turtles, you cannot swim in the ocean because there will be too many jellyfish in the ocean,” the boy replied.

Asked what he liked about the visit, Lance said: “I like the experience releasing the turtles. We were taught about the common mistakes in releasing turtles. It’s fun!” he said in mixed English and Filipino.

Bantay Pawikan
Teaching young students like Lance is almost a daily routine for the 66-year old Mang Manolo and his crew of 17, mostly senior citizens who operate the Pawikan Conservation Center as part of their sworn duty to protect and conserve the endangered pawikan and their natural habitat.

In Morong, they are known as Bantay Pawikan, the provincial government of Bataan’s first line of defense against all forms of threat against the endangered marine turtles and their habitats, including ocean pollution, destructive fishing, poaching, and harvesting eggs, or simply not caring enough to help rescue injured marine turtles.

As members of Bantay Pawikan, their life’s mission is to prevent the extinction of the endangered marine turtles.

Established in 1999, the Pawikan Conservation Center has become a beacon of hope for the endangered pawikan in Morong, Bataan, the global population of which has dramatically gone down, mainly because of the illegal wildlife trade.

Marine turtles are hunted for their meat, shells, tails, including eggs that are harvested in known nesting grounds, such as in Bataan province.

The Bantay Pawikan was organized by the coastal communities of Morong with the help of by the provincial government of Bataan and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to address the rampant hunting of marine turtles and harvesting of eggs in the coastal communities for the longest time.

Former predators
“Before, we were predators of marine turtles. Now, we are their protectors. We harvested eggs and eat them. That was before the government talked to us and told us to stop doing it because the pawikan population has gone down,” Mang Manolo admits.

The 1,500 square meter Pawikan Conservation Center was then established in 1999, the same year their group was organized. It has a small hatchery, and a lodging house, the income from which fuels the operation of the facility.

“Our job is mainly to guard the marine turtles to prevent poaching. When we see them lay the eggs, we collect the eggs and transfer them to our hatchery,” he said.

Mang Manolo said, that before the Bantay Pawikan was organized, the eggs were harvested and sold secretly at P3 to P4 each.

Today, he said some “hardheaded” poachers harvest eggs when the Bantay are not around, and sell three eggs for P20.

Through the facility, which is frequented by students from various schools in the country, the members of Bantay Pawikan help send the message across about the serious threats to, and vulnerabilities that can lead to the extinction of these amazing creatures of the sea.

“Teaching them on-site, with real pawikan or even colorful photos, is effective. It is always better to start teaching about the importance of wildlife while they are still young,” Mang Manolo said, noting that the Center’s visitors are sometimes students in high school and college, who, unlike the younger ones, are not always able to absorb the all-important lessons.

On the same day, when students of Learning Links Academy visited the Pawikan Conservation Center, some tourism students of the PLT College based in Nueva Vizcaya were there to learn from Mang Manolo and his fellow Bantay Pawikan.

Some of them were given the opportunity to release a few of the newly hatched olive ridley turtles.

Together with those released by the Learning Links Academy students on the eve of November 14, a total of 42 olive ridley hatchlings were released. As of November 15, there were 40 nests in the hatchery.

“That is about 4,000 eggs. But in one season we get to secure 200,000 eggs,” Mang Manolo said.

He said about 73 percent of the eggs are hatched and released back to the ocean.

“Owing to the many threats, it was assessed that only 1 percent or even less will survive and, hopefully, return here to lay eggs,” he said.

That is the reason, he explained, marine turtles are highly vulnerable and can become extinct if not cared for.

Migratory turtles
Five of the known seven highly migratory marine turtles are known to visit the Philippines, which hosts a number of important nesting sites, such as the Turtle Islands in Tawi-Tawi province, the biggest marine turtle sanctuary in Southeast Asia, and the province of Bataan, which hosts several nesting grounds, including sanctuaries or hatcheries where the eggs are transferred and secured.

Sometimes, turtle eggs are reported and transferred to the hatcheries with the help of “enlightened” members of coastal communities, which were attributed to the effective awareness campaign of the DENR, the provincial government, and various local government units (LGUs) of Bataan, said Edgar D. Laggui, Community Environment and Natural Resource Officer (Cenro) in Bagac.

Volunteerism
Laggui told the BusinessMirror in an interview on November 15 that volunteerism is key to protecting the coastal and marine environment, including threatened species.

“Our volunteers here in Pawikan Conservation Center do not receive a salary. They only get allowances. They patrol the coastal areas and help protect the marine turtles,” he said.

There are five marine turtle hatcheries in Bataan. Besides the hatchery inside the Pawikan Conservation Center in Morong, there are three more in Mariveles, Bataan and one in Bagac, which is being managed by Montemar Beach Resort in Bagac.

Adela M. Lunca, of Cenro Bagac Park Maintenance who is also detailed in the DENR-Bataan’s Biodiversity Management Sector, added that because of the strong collaboration between the DENR, the provincial government, Morong-LGU and the communities, the trading of turtle eggs has stopped in Morong.

“Now, even the communities are turning over the eggs they discover. They are now fully aware of the importance of those eggs,” she said.

Pawikan Festival
The strong commitment of the provincial government in protecting and conserving marine turtles is demonstrated by the holding of the Pawikan Festival every December 1 and 2.

In a telephone interview on November 14, Raul Mamac, Bataan Provincial Environment and Natural Resource officer, said the Center is a nesting site of marine turtles.

During the festival, people from all over Bataan, including visitors from other provinces, congregate in the area to join the festivities.

The DENR, he said, has partnered with the provincial government to ensure the protection and conservation of Bataan’s mangrove forests.

“We have around a 10 kilometer stretch of thick mangrove forest from Organi to Samal and Abucay, including our wetland [in Bagac],” he added.

Mamac underscored the importance of maintaining the health of the coastal and marine environment, as well as its forests, to the people in the province, who continue to rely on the terrestrial and coastal resources.

‘1M 4 1B’ program
Demonstrating Bataan’s pro-environment stance, he said various stakeholders are being rallied behind the “1M 4 1B” program, which stands for “1 million trees for 1 Bataan Challenge,” a massive tree-planting program, “conceptualized to empower environmental responsiveness through crowdsourcing to encourage everyone to take action in this responsibility.”

Protecting and conserving the marine turtles is part of the Integrated Coastal Management (ICM) of Bataan province, said Engr. Victor Ubaldo, the Provincial Government Environment and Natural Resources Office chief of Bataan. The ICM in Bataan was strengthened by the partnership of the provincial government, the DENR and the Partnerships in Environmental Management for the Seas of East Asia (Pemsea).

“As much as possible, because of industrialization, we try to strike a balance between economic growth and protecting the environment, particularly our coastal areas,” Ubaldo said.

Bataan is at the forefront of the country’s socioeconomic growth boasting of a robust agriculture fishery, and manufacturing sectors, according to the official web site of Pemsea.

Among the ongoing ICM activities in Bataan are coastal strategy development, beach clean-ups, public-awareness campaigns, mangrove rehabilitation and fish/turtle sanctuary establishment.

“If you will notice, here in Bataan, we have several seaports. We also have some private seaports. But as much as possible, we try to conserve our mangrove forests and we also do rehabilitation,” Ubaldo added.

Incidentally, Pemsea will showcase ICM sites in the Philippines as it plays host to the East Asian Seas (EAS) Congress 2018 from November 27 to 30 in Iloilo City.

Bataan, Ubaldo said, will be sending two delegations—one for the Congress and another delegation for the Fifth EAS Youth Forum, which will be held parallel to the EAS Congress 2018.

Source: businessmirror.com.ph

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By: Francis Wakefield

Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Spokesman Brig. Gen. Edgard Arevalo assured that incidents similar to what happened to GMA-7 News reporter Jun Veneracion and his crew are not being neglected by the military.

Marine Colonel Edgard Arevalo (MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO)

“Let me do this by saying hindi naman natin pinagsasawalang kibo, pinagsasawalang bahala ang mga insidenteng ganyan subalit tandaan po natin hindi lang AFP ang unit ng pmahalaan na tumatalakay sa gantong suliranin at nagbibigay solusyon (its not we don’t want to give any reaction or neglecting incidents such as that, but we should remember it is not only the AFP which is the unit that discusses and provides solution to this kind of problem),” Arevalo said.

“This has to be addressed through inter-agency efforts and the AFP is just one of them. So I would like to defer to the DFA (Department of Foreign Affairs) para sila magbigay ng tuwirang comment sa bagay na yan on the part of AFP (for them to give comment on that on behalf of the AFP),” he added.

GMA News’ Jun Veneracion earlier reported that his team had a close encounter with the Chinese Coast Guard when their cameras started rolling as they inched closer to the reef.

Panatag Shoal is 124 nautical miles off Masinloc, Zambales, making it well within the 200-mile exclusive economic zone of the Philippines.

The Chinese Coast Guard approached them when they sailed closer to their destination together with a group of Filipino fishermen who accompanied them to Panatag Shoal.

The Chinese crew members who hollered at them and prohibited them from venturing further claimed that they were “in the sea area of the People’s Republic of China.”

Senators also expressed their concern over reports that the Chinese Coast Guard barred GMA-7 from filming a documentary at the Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal.

On Friday, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana revealed that no less than former United States Defense Secretary Ashton Carter reminded him to “exercise restraint” in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) one week before President Rodrigo Duterte assumed the presidency.

This after the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) at the Hague, Netherlands, ruled in favor of the Philippines stating that it has “sovereign rights” over the marine resources in the
disputed seas.

Lorenzana’s comment was made in a speech he delivered at a forum hosted by the Asian Institute of Management (AIM) in Makati City with the topic “Maritime Disputes in the South China Sea: Navigating the Diplomatic Waters.”
“A week before the administration took over on June 30, 2016 and the arbitral ruling came out in July 2016, I got this call from Defense Secretary Carter of the United States and what he said was the ruling will come out soon “And we think it is in your favor”. And he said “Please, exercise restrain”. I said what do you mean restrain?” Lorenzana said.

“I was thinking to myself do we have the capability to look for trouble there but its very significant that I was called by the US Secretary of defense of us to restrain our actions,” he added.

Lorenzana said prior to the call, he was thinking of calling the Philippine Navy to ask them to send a small force to Panatag Shoal in order to drive away the Chinese there

“But when the time to announced it (came) we were all in Malacañang so when the time came out we had this meeting with the president and it was decided that let us do it as a soft planning. We should not be overly celebrating because we might offend China,” Lorenzana said.

Lorenzana said so when the then Secretary of Foreign Affairs Jun Yasay announced the country won the arbitral ruling, there was criticism on him on how he delivered the message as he was very serious and somber, not the victorious type.

Source: news.mb.com.ph

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Photo Credit: bomboradyo.com

Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games) Federation Council officials approved a total of 56 sports for the 30th Southeast Asian Games Philippines 2019 on Saturday.

The Final List of approved 56 sports are as follows:

Category 1: Athletics and Aquatics;

Category 2: Archery, Badminton, Baseball/Softball, Basketball, Billiards, 10-pin Bowling, Boxing, Canoe/Traditional Boat Race, Chess, Cycling, Dance Sport, Fencing, Football, Golf, Gymnastics, Handball, Hockey, Ice hockey, Ice skating, Judo, Karatedo, Modern Pentathlon, Muay, Pencak Silat, Polo, Rowing, Rugby Sevens, Sailing/Windsurfing, Sepak Takraw, Skateboarding, Shooting, Soft Tennis, Squash, Surfing, Table Tennis, Triathlon, Volleyball, Weightlifting, Wrestling, and Wushu;

Category 3: Arnis, E sports, Floorball, Jujitsu, Kickboxing, Kurash, Lawn Bowls/Petanque, Netball, Obstacle Course, Sambo/Vovinam, Underwater Hockey, and Wakeboarding.

Under the SEAG Federation charter, a host nation must stage at least 22 sports to include the two compulsory sports, at least 16 in Category 2 and up to 12 in Category 3. Another stipulation is a sport may offer medals in events not exceeding five percent of the total at stake.

Philippine SEA Games Organizing Committee (PHISGOC) Executive Director Ramon Suzara said the SEAG Federation Council members were in Manila from November 23 to 25 and made an ocular of the competition venues in Clark and Subic.

Suzara also confirmed the first gathering of the 11 Southeast Asian Games Chefs de Mission from November 29 to December 1, in time for the Philippine SEA Games One Year Countdown Celebration at the Bayanihan Park, Clark, Angeles City, Pampanga on November 30.

A time honored tradition of the SEA Games, the Philippines as host country will lead the Countdown Celebration to announce the start of a series of activities, functions and gatherings leading up to the opening of the 30th SEA Games in 2019.

The PHISGOC Executive Board is chaired by former Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter S. Cayetano, and co-chaired by Philippine Sports Commission Chairman Butch Ramirez and Philippine Olympic Committee President Ricky Vargas.

Source: tv5.espn.com

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AS the 2018-2019 sailing season got underway last weekend, newly installed Manila Yacht Club Commodore Robert “Bobby” Joseph talked of the need to raise awareness on the polluted water of Manila Bay.

Commodore Robert Joseph

Joseph said he will ask the Metro Manila Development Authority to initiate cleanup efforts in and around the MYC area.

He explained that one of two sewage pipes coming from nearby cities in Metro Manila drains in waters near the MYC clubhouse.

A full implementation of the environmental law that has already been in place for the last 10 years needs to be done, according to Joseph.

“We have enough environmental laws, the most complete environmental laws in the world. Unfortunately, it is not being implemented,” said Joseph after receiving the MYC flag during a turnover ceremony from Ildefonso Tronqued.

The festivities, which opened the 2018-2019 sailing season was later followed by the firing of the MYC cannon with guest of honor, Sen. Vicente “Tito” Sotto.

A parade of yachts later in the day then ensued.

The 68-year-old Joseph said he will also make an appeal to Manila Water and Maynilad, which supply clean water to the rest of the capital.

He will ask the two companies to release treated water into Manila Bay when it has already been filtered and cleaned up of impurities.

Recreational sailing activities are now currently going on at MYC, although the new MYC commodore said the present quality of water of Manila Bay has limited the number of sailing activities.

The more serious sailing events are now being held in Subic Bay.

Competitive sailing events are being scheduled though in the latter part of January 2019 to give way to their efforts to have cleanup activities around Manila Bay.

Source: manilastandard.net

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A red dot points to the epicenter of the magnitude 3.7 quake that shook the seabed off Zambales on Monday, Nov. 26, 2018. PHIVOLCS MAP

A magnitude 3.7 earthquake hit off the province of Zambales early Monday, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said.

Phivolcs traced the quake’s epicenter at 30 kilometers west of San Antonio, Zambales, at a depth of 18 kilometers.

The quake of tectonic origin struck at 4:35 a.m.

No aftershocks and damage were expected from the tremor, Phivolcs said.

Source: newsinfo.inquirer.net

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