Bataan, Philippines - President Gloria Arroyo said Wednesday that government has allocated P5 billion for conservation activities, including the P240 million for protected areas.
Mrs. Arroyo said the allocation is part of the P8-billion budget of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) for 2008.
DENR’s 2008 budget would be used to beautify villages and cities, build more urban parks and recreation areas, purify water systems and clean up industrial sites.
These efforts highlight government's commitment to take care of the environment, adding that protection of national parks and wildlife sanctuaries is among top government priorities, the President said.
Mrs. Arroyo said the P240 million will be spent for protected areas so that these could be developed into international sanctuaries for eco-tourism and scientific research.
The President has also set aside P5 million for the Pawikan (sea turtle) conservation Project in the village of Nagbalayong in Morong, Bataan.
Through the Philippine Tourism Authority, the president ordered the release of additional funds for the setting up of shelters, lodging rooms for tourists and marine biologists and livelihood for project officers.
Pawikan
On Wednesday, Mrs. Arroyo led the release of some 30 three-day old Olive Ridley sea turtles into Morong sea, which eventually leads to the South China Sea.
The baby sea turtles were hatched in the hatchery of the sanctuary, where conservationists took care of the eggs for 40 to 60 days. Turtles come to the Morong beach to lay eggs from September to February. Conservation officers dig up the eggs and place for safekeeping in the hatchery.
The Bagac and Morong coasts are nesting grounds for three out of five sea turtle species in the country - 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.
According to research, only 1 to 3 percent of the released baby sea turtles will survive and the females will return instinctively into the shore where they were was born when it is time for them to lay eggs.
This means only one of the 30 turtles that the group of President Arroyo released on Wednesday would survive.
Unfortunately, the baby turtle that Arroyo first released was not as active as the rest. It just stayed still on the wet sand for about 10 seconds while its siblings scrambled towards the waters.
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.
Clean energy
Also in Bataan, the President announced that the Philippines is tapping alternative indigenous sources of power and energy as the country veers away from imported fossil fuels that are expensive and contribute to global warming.
She said the energy department has allocated P274.16 million for these efforts.
The Philippine National Oil Company is dedicating part of its corporate funds for 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, Arroyo said.
She said the government has earmarked P300 million for the reforestation, adding that she has convinced several countries like New Zealand to give their grants for tree-planting projects.
She said the PNOC should also spend funds on reforestation to recover the oxygen that fossil fuels are eating up.
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