MAITUM, Sarangani -- At the coastal village of Old Poblacion here, turtles -- or pawikans -- of various species are given the chance to multiply.

In a recent visit greeted by an out-of-tune song belted from a videoke machine, leaves of coconut trees sway gently to the warm wind that partly shadow dances a small parcel of sand in which underneath lies hidden marine treasures.

Valentine's 2009 blog

Just a few meters from the shore, the sand parcel is enclosed by a rectangular black fine-meshed net dotted by rounded green plastic sheet. It seems not very attractive at all.

But ask around about it and it's very likely the answer will ignite real human interest.

"Below the sand enclosed by the net sometimes are hundreds of turtle eggs for hatching. Welcome to our turtle hatching facility," a beaming Danny C. Dequiña, hatchery caretaker, said.

Hawksbill, olive ridley and green turtles are among the endangered species that have made the shorelines here their egg-laying sanctuary.

"They have been coming at this coastal village to lay eggs as far as I could remember. It is maybe because their mothers also lay them here," said Jerry Bascuña, the municipal environment and natural resources officer.

There was an incident last year where an olive ridley turtle that was tagged three years ago returned to their surprise, he recalled.

As it is a local government-recognized tourism attraction, efforts have been made such as information awareness not only to ensure the turtles will not be harmed by residents but also for the conservation of the marine creatures for the future generation to enjoy.

"Turtles are wonderful, gentle sea creatures. We should protect them to avoid their extinction," said Dequiña, who inspired the hatchery project to life way back 2003.

Years before then, Mr. Dequiña recalled that if ever he found turtle eggs in the sand, he would mark it discreetly so that people will not notice until these are hatched and then released to the sea. His efforts were noticed by the local government unit that now he is getting regular salary as the hatchery caretaker.

Some 3,000 turtle hatchlings and 100 mature turtles have been released to the ocean since then, his record showed.

The latest hatchlings release took place recently, wherein 85 olive ridleys returned to their rightful place that is the sea, where they may see their parents.

A mother turtle usually after laying the eggs and burying it with sand immediately goes back to the sea and never returns. The heat in the sand becomes the eggs' substitute incubator vice the mother.

Based on experience, Dequiña pointed out that hatching percentage of the facility stood at 60 percent due to the shadow of the coconut trees.

Two mature hawksbill turtles and another mature olive ridley are being kept at the resort, in which Dequiña also operates a pop and mom store.

"In case students go here for their field study trips, we have something to show them so they can better appreciate the conservation of these marine creatures," he explained.

But even with their conservation efforts and information awareness campaign, there are still people who just don't care about the turtles.

Some kill the beached mature turtles and cook them for food or pulutan, others boil turtle eggs they accidentally discover, said Dequiña.

There have been efforts from town officials to declare Barangay Old Poblacion and six other coastal villages as pawikan sanctuaries by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

But Dequiña said this has not happened so far.

Elizabeth R. Palma-Gil, municipal information officer, urged residents to take more part in the protection of the sea turtles to help the local government in preserving the creatures.

According to her, conservation awareness campaign has worked in some ways, recalling an incident where a fisherman was about to butcher a juvenile hawksbill turtle but was prevented by his wife.

"She told the husband that killing the turtle is punishable by law, as a result of her attendance to our awareness campaign," Palma-Gil said.

She pointed out that the biggest captured turtle in the locality that has since been released measured 100 centimeters.

Surfacing sea turtles are a common sight in the coastal waters of Sarangani province, according to a study entitled Coastal Environment Profile of Sarangani Bay Area.

The most common species is the green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) and on some occasions the hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricate), the study said.

The 345-square kilometer Sarangani Bay, although not straddling Maitum town, was declared as a protected seascape by President Fidel Ramos on March 5, 1996 through Presidential Proclamation 756.