Turtle-eaters' apology enough: Duterte

Thursday, February 9, 2012

DAVAO CITY -- Vice Mayor Rodrigo Duterte is not keen on declaring Indonesian missionaries as persona non grata after dumping parts of a green sea turtle in a garbage bin here.

The vice mayor’s daughter, Mayor Sara Duterte, earlier urged the City Council to declare owner of a Korean vessel, its crew, and the Indonesian missionaries onboard as persona non grata (unwelcome persons) following the dumping incident.

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But the older Duterte, on his television program, said the persona non grata declaration would be too harsh considering that the foreign missionaries were on a goodwill visit to the city.

He said MV Hannah II owner Hannah Parks already apologized to the Dabawenyos and for him, that is enough. “I would just accept the apology. Personally, my sense is that an apology would be enough.”

“Ayaw ko'g pangutan-a ngano, di ko musugot ideclare sila persona non grata, in deference to the mayor. Di na sila kabalik pag ideclare sila persona non grata (Don’t ask me why. I won’t allow declaring them persona non grata because that would mean they cannot go back to the city.) They were here for goodwill,” Vice Mayor Duterte added.

Parks, in her public apology, said the sea turtle, which was given to them by the president of Palau during a recent visit, was slaughtered in Palau and the remains were kept in a freezer as they started traveling to the Philippines in November last year.

She said they dumped the sea turtle's carcass in a biodegradable labeled garbage bin inside the Sta. Ana pier because they don't want to throw it into the ocean.

But Parks's explanation did not sit well with Mayor Duterte.

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources also said earlier that it sees no violation in what the foreign vessel crew did because the sea turtle was slaughtered in a foreign land. The country's law does not cover crimes committed outside its jurisdiction.

Green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas) are listed as endangered by both the World Conservation Union and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.

Commercial trade in wild-caught specimens of these species is illegal (permitted only in exceptional licensed circumstances). (Sun.Star Davao/Sunnex)