The rescued turtle rests inside a boat before it was released in Ragay Gulf on March 10.
On March 8, 2001, fishermen arrived at the house of BK staff Wilfredo Lingon in Tagkawayan, Quezon to report the capture of a sea turtle by a trawl boat.
The fishermen asked that an identification tag be attached to the turtle before it was released into the sea. Lingon’s son, Winifredo, assisted fisherman Julian Olaguer Jr. in taking pictures and identifying the species of the turtle.
The younger Lingon also coordinated with local DENR officers Yolanda Seguerra and Corazon Salamat, who provided an improvised tag for the turtle. The turtle, named "Pawikan 2001" by the fishermen, weighed about 25 kilograms.
A yet-to-be-named fishing boat which went to sea for the very first time took the turtle to Ragay Gulf on March 10. "This boat is fortunate for taking part in the rescue of a friend in the sea in its maiden voyage", Olaguer said.
Another endangered creature, this time from the mountains, was rescued by farmers who accidentally caught a civet cat (musang) in Barangay (village) Kinalangan, Del Gallego, Camarines Sur.
The wild cat was surrendered to Wilfredo Lingon on March 10, 2001 by Avelino Silang, the farmer who caught it. "We have read a lot about it on BK and we are afraid of getting arrested. Besides, this cat is quite gentle," Silang told us.
For some time, the cat stayed inside Lingon’s house, refusing to leave despite being unbound and allowed to roam free. The cat appeared to have found contentment in catching mice and cockroaches within the house, until it was released a week later into a nearby forested area.
By Marx C. Pranada
