On Pawikan drive, City willing to partner with NGO

CEBU, Philippines - Cebu City veterinary and fisheries officials welcomed the offer of a group of environmentalists to partner with the City Government in information drive against the illegal trade of turtles.

“We are very much willing to partner with them in disseminating information on the significance of marine turtles and the ill effects of abusing them,” Dr. Alice Utlang of the Department of Veterinary Medicine and Fisheries (DVMF) told The Freeman.

Save Philippine Seas (SPS), a non-government organization pushing for the protection of marine resources, earlier posted online an open letter to Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama reiterating the basic laws that covered the protection of threatened marine resources with emphasis on the role of the local government units.

There is nothing wrong with the letter, Utlang said.

“I read it and I let my staff members read it. We do not see anything offensive about what SPS wrote. It is just emphasizing the importance of the marine resources including the turtles,” she added.

But Utlang said that the City Government is actually doing its job on its own capacity to address this concern, even before this was highlighted in the news.

DVMF fisheries division chief Maria Merlyn Catipay said their team does daily inspection from fish ports to marketplace.

“We report for work at six in the morning because we have to catch the arrival of shipped marine resources for commercial purposes. From there, we proceed to public and private markets and even supermarkets to see if they are not violating any law. We do this every day,” Catipay told The Freeman.

The roving of fisheries officials is part of the strict implementation of a city ordinance prohibiting “adulterated” fishes or those injected with additives to make it look fresh, posing health risks.

Utlang emphasized that their office's role is merely monitoring but the police power is with the DENR and BFAR.

Former fisheries division chief Celeste Gabrino recalled strict implementation of the law that even included confiscation.

“There was a time in 2009 that we confiscated 14 containers of pawikan meat from Bohol. Our office was the one who spotted it so we called DENR and BFAR who intercepted the prohibited meat,” Gabrino added, saying despite not having an actual record of recent interception, the city “never stopped monitoring” Pasil fish port and the market.

Rama, in yesterday's regular press conference, revived his initial request for turtle stew patrons to stop the demand and that involvement of mandated government agencies will very much be helpful.—  (FREEMAN)