Green group writes Rama on turtle trade

CEBU, Philippines - An environment group yesterday posted online an open letter urging the local government for clearer and stronger law enforcement against illegal turtle trade.

On its Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr accounts, Save Philippine Seas, through its co-founder Anna Oposa addressed its letter to Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama in reaction to his statements on the illegal turtle trade.

The item garnered at least 79 Facebook shares, 15 Tweets and 110 Tumblr likes six hours after being posted.

“It is not clear where the city government stands and takes responsibility,” Oposa wrote citing Republic Act 9147 or the Wildlife Resources Conservation and Protection Act) that “local government units are supposed to implement.”

Oposa also reminded that there was actually a city ordinance (No. 1801) passed on August 1996 that created the Cebu City Bantay Dagat Coordinating Commission.

The commission was then headed by the late Elpidio “Jojo” Dela Victoria and retired Supt. Arnulfo Sebusa, whom Oposa lauded for actively enforcing the law but added that the activity died down some three years ago.

Local newspapers ran news stories on Rama’s reaction to a headline exposing the continuing patronage of turtle stew (larang pawikan). 

As opposed to a quoted statement from assistant city veterinary officer Pilar Romero, she emphasized that the concerned agency for the protection of marine turtles is actually the Protected Area and Wildlife Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

A screen grab of a blog entry at a site called “All Things Cebu” noted turtle soup to be among the top five “Cebu exotic foods you must try!” along with dugo-dugo, ginabot, lansiao, and tuslob-buwa complete with description and suggested eateries.

The letter also expressed that re-electing Rama is not a condition for him to solve the problem and that apart from solid waste management which he cited as a “more important environmental concern to address,” marine turtles are part of a significant marine population responsible for keeping the underwater ecosystem balanced.

Before ending her letter, Oposa suggested how to address the illegal turtle trade and expressed willingness to partner with the city in educating the stakeholders involved and even volunteered the help of other cause-oriented allies like the Coastal Conservation and Education Foundation and Movement for a Livable Cebu. (FREEMAN)