How Siloys touch lives: Going undercover in Pasil

Ador Mayol was a mass communication intern in CDN before he joined the paper as a correspondent in 2008 and then as a full-time staff reporter. He covers the justice beat and church affairs.

Early last year, I  went to the coastal village of Pasil in Cebu City to verify a tip  that  a row of eateries  was  serving an exotic but banned specialty – stewed pawikan or sea turtle.

Going undercover is no easy task.

Fearful that I may end up suffering the same fate as the poor green sea turtles, I had to watch out for every word I said  when asking questions so as not to arouse suspicion.
The slaughter and sale of turtle meat is prohibited under  environmental laws.

The exotic fare sold in Pasil has long been one of Cebu’s  darkest  open secrets.
Taking photos of the  prohibited stew was risky. I came with a friend who ordered the  dish.

Ador Mayol’s story on exotic sea turtles ‘pawikan.’ Published March 11, 2013.

I didn’t eat  but  I discreetly took a few shots  with my cellphone.

When CDN splashed the story and photo on the front page  on March 11, 2013, Pasil,  the fate of the pawikans was put under  the spotlight.

A television documentary show took interest in the story and sent a crew to do a follow-up. They also used my photos  in their report.

On the day the story was published, stewed pawikan disappeared from Pasil’s menu.
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR)  went to Pasil and put up  tarpaulin signs in the area warning  people about the penalties provided for under Republic

Act 9147 or the Wildlife Protection and Conservation Act.

I was happy that somehow CDN was able to contribute in saving some of our threatened and endangered species.
But wait, the victory seems short-lived.

Just recently, someone told me that stewed pawikan is back in Pasil.
Maybe, I need to return to the village,   this time with another game plan.