3 die, 31 hospitalized after feasting on cooked sea turtle

SHELL Councilor Datu Mohamad Sinsuat Jr. of Datu Blah Sinsuat town in Maguindanao del Norte holds up the shell of the sea turtle that villagers captured, cooked and ate, leaving three of them dead and 31 others hospitalized due to suspected poisoning. —Photo courtesy of Datu Mohamad Sinsuat Jr.

COTABATO CITY, BARMM, Philippines — Three members of the Teduray indigenous peoples in a town of Maguindanao del Norte have died and 31 others were hospitalized reportedly due to poisoning after eating cooked sea turtle meat on Saturday, a town official said.

Councilor Datu Mohamad Sinsuat Jr., the representative of the Association of Barangay Councils in the municipal council of Datu Blah Sinsuat town, said the 31 other members of the Teduray tribe were still being treated in a local hospital.

The victims, all residents of Barangay Linao, a coastal and fishing village in Datu Blah Sinsuat, have complained of stomach pain, some of them have vomited, after feasting on sea turtle meat that a fisherman captured and cooked.

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Authorities were still determining what caused the food poisoning.

Sinsuat said he helped bring the victims to the nearest hospital but three of them perished. Those who died, who were not identified, were immediately laid to rest, he added.

According to Sinsuat, villagers showed him the shell of the sea turtle whose meat was cooked and feasted on by the community.

The sea turtle is listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, also known as the Washington Convention.

In most countries, it is illegal to collect, harm or kill these sea turtles. Many countries also have laws and ordinances to protect nesting areas but turtles continue to be in danger because of human activities. In some countries, turtles and their eggs are still hunted for food.

Despite existing environmental laws in the Philippines protecting endangered marine lives like sea turtles, they are still being hunted and killed. —Edwin O. Fernandez