Smuggling of Philippine wildlife has been in the news in Sabah. Twelve Filipinos were detained last month in Sandakan, Sabah, for trying to bring in 19,000 eggs of pawikan (marine turtles). Romeo Trono, former head of the Pawikan Conservation Project of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), says this is “probably the biggest haul of marine turtle eggs being transported by Filipinos and confiscated by the Sabah Marine Police during a single operation over the last 30 years.” That’s about the length of time Trono, also a former country director of both the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)-Philippines and Conservation International-Philippines, has spent working on marine turtle conservation issues in the country and in Southeast Asia.

Yaptinchay, A. A. (2016, August 21). Endangered 'pawikan' still at high risk. Philippine Daily Inquirer, p. A12.