Gov’t allocates P5B for conservation activities

MORONG, Bataan. - President Arroyo said Wednesday that government has allocated P5 billion for conservation activities, including P240 million for protected areas, as part of the P8-billion budget of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources for 2008.

Arroyo said the amount would be used to beautify villages and cities, build more urban parks and recreation areas, purify water systems and clean up industrial sites. She said this underscores government’s commitment to take care of the environment.

The President said the protection of national parks and wildlife refuges also ranks high in government’s priorities. She said P240 million will be spent for protected areas so that they could be developed into international sanctuaries for eco-tourism and scientific research.

She said P5 million would be spent for the Pawikan Conservation Project in Barangay Nagbalayong in Morong, Bataan. She ordered the Philippine Tourism Authority to give additional funds for the shelter and gave the project officers a check for their livelihood and for the setting up of lodging rooms for tourists and marine biologists.

Arroyo led the release of some 30 three-day old Olive Ridley sea turtles into the beach of Morong, which eventually leads to the South China Sea, to heighten the awareness of the people on the importance of conservation, particularly on saving the turtles.

The baby sea turtles were hatched in the sanctuary where conservationists took care of the eggs for 40-60 days. Turtles come to the Morong beach to lay eggs from September to February and the eggs are dug up and placed for safekeeping in the hatchery.

The Bagac and Morong coasts are known as nesting grounds of three out of five sea turtle species in the country. These are the Hawksbill, Olive Ridley, and the Green Turtle.

The Pawikan Conservation Center has released more than 50,000 baby sea turtles since it was established in September 1999.

Only 1-3 percent of the released baby sea turtles will survive and the females will return instinctively to the shore where it was born to lay eggs. This means only one of the 30 turtles that the group of President Arroyo released would survive.

The baby turtle that Arroyo first released was not as active as the rest. It stayed put on the sand for about 10 seconds while its siblings scrambled toward the water.

In her speech, Arroyo recalled that her father, the late president Diosdado Macapagal negotiated for the return of the Turtle islands in Tawi-Tawi to the Philippines from Malaysia. She said her family visited it and she was gifted with a turtle, which she claimed she released into the sea because it was crying.

Arroyo also said the Philippines is tapping alternative indigenous sources of power and energy and is veering away from imported fossil fuels that are expensive and contribute to global warming. She said the energy department allocated P274.16 million for these efforts.

She said the Philippine National Oil Co. is dedicating part of its corporate funds to the development of new and renewable energy sources even as government tries to convince investors to venture into the "promising areas" of solar, wind, geothermal and biofuel energy.

She added that the government has earmarked P300 million for the recovery its lost forests through massive tree planting with the help of communities. She said she has convinced several countries like New Zealand to give their grants as reforestation projects.