Pawikan stew ‘loses flavor’ in Pasil amid crackdown
Eatery owner Crisly Tulod inherited her grandmother’s business of serving “pawikan (turtle)” stew for sometime, the first eatery to do so in barangay Pasil, Cebu City.
People come frequently to her family’s makeshift eatery in front of their house along the crowded Flores street in barangay Pasil, Cebu City to look for their best selling green sea turtle stew.
“Daghan mangita kay pampa-init daw sa ilang lawas. Ang mga Insik kay muingon na pampanindot sa panit ang atay. Ang unod dili kaayo pangita-on. Ang tambok maoy pampainit sa lawas (A lot of people look for the stew because it helps warm them up. The Chinese would say that the turtle’s liver can clear the skin. Its fat can warm up people),” Tulod said.
Her eatery was the first to serve the exotic “pawikan” stew before it became an underground gourmet attraction for adventurous eaters.
It was only recently that the Department of Environment and Natural Resources– Central Visayas (DENR 7) started their information dissemination to stop the illegal pawikan trade in their barangay.
Serving notice
Regional Executive Director Isabelo Montejo Jr. and the Pawikan Task Force went to Pasil and tacked a tarpaulin across Tulod’s store, citing a provision of Republic Act 9147 or the Wildlife Protecton and Conservation Act of the Philippines.
“We are posting notice. It’s better to be acted upon rather than not doing anything at all. My presence shows that we are serious in this,” Montejo said during the agency’s ocular inspection in the Pasil public market.
However, the task force only visited Tulod’s eatery and didn’t bother to visit other eateries who may have been selling the same dish.
Tulod said she inherited her eatery from from her 81-year-old grandmother Beatriz Limbaga-Badal. They also serve tinolang isda (fish stew).
Big loss
She said the DENR visited them last January and told her to stop serving pawikan stew.
The capture, sale and slaughtering of green sea turtles is prohibited under RA 9147. Tulod said it had been a month since they served pawikan stew.
Instead of turtle they serve mamsa or jack fish to customers.
“Everyday, we use to earn about P10,000 but now, we are earning only P5,000. Such a big loss to us since this is the only means of livelihood we have,” Tulod said.
Last month, the DENR in Cebu released four green sea turtles rescued from a private zoo in Cebu City to Olango island Wildlife Sanctuary in Lapu-Lapu City.
The zoo housed other endangered species but the owners couldn’t present documents even now.
The management was initially given until April 8 but they asked the Ombudsman to extend the deadline to April 30. /Marian Z.Codilla, Senior Reporter with Correspondent Carine M. Asutilla
