Joint teams of the Philippine Navy, the Philippine National Police and Kilusang Sagip Kalikasan recovered 65 sea turtles onboard an unmanned motor launch last May 24, 2013 in the vicinity of Sitio Marabon, Bgy Matangule, Balabac, Palawan.
Following a tip from a concerned individual and collected information coming from the locals that a transport of sea turtles will transpire from the said place to Hasa-Hasa Shoal, the joint teams immediately conducted seaborne operations and proceeded to the area. At about 5 pm in the afternoon, they spotted the said M/L and found onboard different species of sea turtles. The M/L was towed to Bgy Rio Tuba for proper documentation and disposition of Palawan Council for Sustainable Development (PCSD).
At about 3 p.m. June 2, PCSD staff conducted scaling and tagging of the recovered sea turtles, 49 of which were still alive while 16 were already dead. The live sea turtles were released after the documentation while the dead were disposed properly under the facilitation of PCSD and witnessed by representatives of different concerned agencies.
The seized M/L is currently under the custody of Special Boat Unit in Bataraza for further investigation. Moreover, the documented evidence were with PCSD who will file the case against the still unidentified owner of M/L for violation of RA 9147 of Wildlife Resources and Conservation Act.
The estimated value of sea turtles based on its selling price is PhP 1.625 Million while the seized M/L has an estimated value of PhP 130,000.00.
[mappress] Press Release, June 3, 2013; Image: Philippine Navy