Pawikan Conservation Center

Pawikan Conservation Center is a private organization protecting the welfare of “pawikan”, a turtle species.

It is located in the town of Nagbalayong, Morong, Bataan which is roughly 4 hours away from Manila but just an hour and a half from my hometown, Orani.

As we enter, numerous environmental infographic posters and boards greeted us.

Three out of five sea turtle species in the country are known to have nesting grounds in the coasts of Bagac and Morong.

It wasn’t my first time to visit the place yet it was my first time to experience releasing newly hatched turtles myself. 

It just feels so right as I released each of the four newly hatched turtles. It may sound weird and exaggerated but I have this feeling deep within that I was able to help the world just by releasing these little cutie creatures.

Marine turtles of the world are now highly threatened to be extinct and I guess we are all aware with these threats are rooting mostly from human activities. 

Poaching, illegal fishing and disposal of solid wastes to bodies of water that eventually end up to the biggest garbage sink, the ocean causes disgraceful effects to marine organisms. 

I was asked to let them crawl few meters away from the seashore in order for them to remember this area. According to studies, one day these turtles will probably return to the area where they were hatched and that’s when the time they are ready to reproduce and lay their own eggs.

A Hatchery can be found just few meters away from the entrance.

I had the chance to talked with the Organization’s Chairman, Mr. Manolo Ibias and he explained the process of hatching.

According to him, the length of hatching period depends with the rate of temperature. And since, this kind of hatching solely depends with sunlight and sand’s warmth, the hotter the weather, the shorter the hatching process.

During summer, hatching stage is quite shorter. Due to our tropical climate, the average hatching period of turtle eggs here in the Philippines lasts roughly about 53-58 days compared to 30-38 days hatching stage in the Middle East.

According to Mr. Ibias, the Pawikan Festival is usually held every end of November, wherein these super cute baby turtles are released racing into the sea where they will grow, mature and eventually find the meaning of their lives. And it was truly my pleasure to witness them swim towards their journey.