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==[[Tawi-Tawi News]]==
==[[Tawi-Tawi News]]==
'''The Dangers of Philippine Birdwatching'''
'''Tawi-Tawi To Showcase Tourism Sites'''
*Source: http://www.asiasentinel.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4234&Itemid=189
*Source: http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/351680/tawitawi-to-showcase-tourism-sites
*WEDNESDAY, 15 FEBRUARY 2012
*February 17, 2012, 3:58pm
:by Criselda Yabes  
:by NONOY E. LACSON 




Birds, bandits meet with ominous consequences
BONGAO, Tawi-Tawi, Philippines – The provincial government of Tawi-Tawi, through its Provincial Tourism Office, continues to showcase its various tourist destinations after noting the constant arrival of local and foreign tourists in this bustling capital town.


On Feb. 1, on the isolated backwater Philippine island of Tawi-Tawi, two European men went hunting for some of the world’s rarest birds. Their passion as birdwatchers got them captured by five gunmen who took them hostage and destroyed their cameras, which contained proof of what only a few people in the world have ever seen.  
“What we need now is a serious and aggressive promotion of our tourism attractions, destinations, and potentials, and add more colors to get the much-needed boost in the tourism sector,” Governor Sadikul Sahali said.


Some 5,000 Filipino soldiers have been searching the region for the two, 52-year-old Elwold Hom of Holland and Lorenzo Vinciguerra, 47, of Switzerland. The army believes they are somewhere within 2,000 hectares of jungle on Tawi-Tawi. Meantime the kidnapers – or people posing as the kidnapers – have demanded that the police and army pull out of the area, a haven for Islamic separatists. Others suspect the kidnapers could be common bandits who sell their prey to Islamist rebels.  
Sahali also downplayed the kidnapping of Lorenzo Vinciguerra, a Swiss national, 47, and Dutchman Ewold Horn, 52, on February 1 at the coast of Panglima Sugala, saying that the incident is just an “isolated case.”


The story thus has several different facets– of the inability of the government to impose law and order on a region with a reputation for kidnaping, piracy and conflict, of the possibility that the Moro National Liberation Front or Abu Sayyaf captured the two as a part of their campaign to drive the government out of Mindanao – or of the foolhardy bravery of birdwatchers the world over who are willing to risk life and limb for their so-called life lists of observed birds.  
“There is no problem in accommodating tourists in this province because there are enough hotels and resorts in this capital town of Bongao,” said.


In the case of Elwold Hom and Lorenzo Vinciguerra, it is the latter that matters. They are among avid birdwatchers who come to the Philippines against the odds, although they appear to be the first to be captured. The Wild Bird Club of the Philippines is considerably more prudent, not allowing its 200-odd members to stray into regions known for having been the site of battles and rebel strongholds.  
For her part, Tawi-Tawi Vice Governor Ruby Sahali-Tan also said that the 11 municipalities of the province will also join in showcasing the many tourist destinations in their respective areas, even as they also guarantee the safety of visiting tourists in their respective municipalities.


Their Filipino guide and photographer, Ivan Sarenas, a noted birdwatcher in his own right and a member of the Wild Bird Club, escaped by leaping from the outrigger and swimming to safety where local fishermen rescued him.  
Bongao, she said, is known as the microcosm of religious and cultural diversity.


“They wanted to see the world’s rarest hornbills before they grow old,” Sarenas said. He is one of two people previously known to have photographed the Sulu Hornbills, luminous black birds that can only be found on the island and are believed to be the last of their kind left on earth.  
She said the Bongao Peak on this island town showcases a breathtaking view of nearby Sabah in Malaysia, while the Bolobok Cave in Barangay Lakit-Lakit is one of the oldest caves – since 800 A.D.


There are thought to be about 20 pairs of the hornbills left, according to a survey made about 10 years ago. The birds have been exterminated in Sulu, a chain of islands near Borneo – according to the ‘red list’ of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. Sulu and Tawi-Tawi supposedly are the only two places on earth to find the hornbills and the stunning Bleeding Heart pigeon as well, which has not been seen or collected since the early 1900s.  
It was in Tubig-Indangan, Simunul, where the first Muslim missionary Sheik Karimul Makdum set foot to build the first mosque in the country in 1380 A.D., the lady vice governor here said.


Paradoxically, it is these dangerous regions that make areas of the Philippines some of the best birdwatching areas anywhere. It is where less dedicated individuals would never dare set foot. The abduction of the birdwatchers has raised the number of foreigners kidnapped in the region since the beginning of 2011 to 10.  
Sapa-Sapa in Sibutu is also known as the home of the descendants of Malay royalty of the Federal State of Borneo.


Five, an Australian, two Malaysian traders, an Indian married to a Filipina and a Japanese male, are still in captivity along with three abducted Filipinos.  
The towns of Sitangkai, South Ubian, Tandubas, and Turtle Islands are known as the “Venice of the South,” she said.


The abductors of the Australian, 53-year-old Warren Rodwell, are demanding US$2 million for his release.  
As this developed, the governor also invited the tourists to experience the various underwater activities, like scuba diving, swimming, and snorkeling, at the same time enjoy the white sand beaches of Sangay Siapo Island, Panampangan Island, Tango Island, and Saluag Island.


Such spots actually enhance the chances of survival of rare birds rather than in other open or populated habitats, a place where they are likely to be hunted, poached, captured, displaced from excessive logging and mining, and for reasons that tell the country’s culture of destruction and lack of awareness for the wildlife.  
He described Tawi-Tawi as irregular in shape, with splashes of fine white sand beaches, and has 307 islands and islets, 88 of which are characterized by extensive reefs.


The Mindanao south, of which Tawi-Tawi and Sulu are a part, is host to many of the estimated 200 endemic birds in the country, more than a third out of its total 614 species, comparably bigger than other countries in Southeast Asia. The most famous of its birds is the Philippine Eagle, a magnificent bird that is one of the three largest eagles on earth. It is also known as the Monkey-Eating Eagle because of its hunting prowess. Others in the region include the Cinnamon Ibon, the Red-Eared Parrotfinch, the Black-Headed Tailorbird.  
Sahali maintained that Tawi-Tawi is a peaceful and safe province in this part of the country.


But with the loss of habitat left unchecked, the Philippines has become the zone other migratory birds avoid, judging from the falling numbers of their species over the years – migrants from the Eurasian mainland and some from Siberia.  
First-class and high-valued fish are abundant in this province, including crustaceans, like lobsters, the exotic kuratsa, and the coconut and mud crabs, attributing this to the province’s fair tropical climate.


Anna Gonzales, president of the Wild Bird Club of the Philippines, offered a striking theory as to why conflict areas are safer for the birds.  
Sahali said the province has four ethnic groups – the Sama, Jama Mapun, Tausug, and Badjaos, while the rest are Christians and indigenous groups.


“Perhaps the armed rebels will not use their bullets on the birds,” she said. Offbeat as that may sound, it lends some reason as to why the treasures of the Philippine wildlife are forcing the best of the naturalist adventurers to take risks.
The prevailing dialect is Sinama, the vice governor added.
 
In many parts of the gun-happy country, it is common to shoot whatever moves, a predatory human predilection carried over from the colonial years and currently ingrained as a disturbing habit in regard to the life of the birds, other conservationists say. In schools, Filipinos were generally taught about the prominent wildlife elsewhere but not of their own. This and poverty have worsened the fate of the Philippine birds.
 
The Philippine Wildlife Conservation and Protection Act calls for a state policy to guard the wildlife species and their habitats for ecological balance and biodiversity, but little of that has been shown in action. One example is the wetlands of Manila Bay, of which one part had been declared a conservation area for bird-watching and biodiversity until recently, when a ‘master plan’ to reclaim 600 hectares of the bay stretching to both north and south surfaced. Environmentalists, growing in small numbers, are hoping to stop it with protests.
 
There’s much more of the country’s 7,000 islands to see for birding, but it is largely a struggle for enthusiasts. It means going far and deep into the thickets of the forests, with birds fleeing and hiding out of sight in the open space for fear of being caught or hunted. At best birds frequently seen in the cities are the Eurasian Sparrows, commonly known as the ‘mice with wings’ that are garbage scavengers.
 
Ornithologists say the Philippines remains ‘under-birded,’ meaning there is more potential to be studied, that birds like hornbills, woodpeckers, and others could be broken down into sub-species endemic to the country.
 
“Has it been ingrained in the birds that the Philippines is a dangerous place?” asked Michael Lu, a businessman and founding member of the bird club. “You can go anywhere in this country and you will see habitat destruction.” He has plenty examples to cite, including a former paper mill zone where hunters and trespassers used to kill hornbills, filling up sacks with the dead to be consumed as food or sold in markets.
 
Criselda Yabes is a Philippine journalist and avid birdwatcher. She can be reached at cdyabes@yahoo.com.


==[[:Category:Tawi-Tawi, Philippines Photo Gallery|Tawi-Tawi, Philippines Photo Gallery]]==
==[[:Category:Tawi-Tawi, Philippines Photo Gallery|Tawi-Tawi, Philippines Photo Gallery]]==
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