The local folks in the coastal barangay of Navitas in Panay, Capiz province had recently witnessed the release of 106 Olive ridley(Lepidochelysolivacea) sea turtle hatchlings.

Last December 7, 2021 at 3:30 a.m., Mrs. Hardeliza Besa, a resident in Brgy. Navitas spotted a sea turtle laying eggs in the seashore. By 5:00 oc’clock in the morning, she informed Brgy. Captain Vicente Regalado about her discovery.

Brgy. Captain Regalado immediately informed DENR PENRO Capiz Conservation and Development Section (CDS) Chief Forester Nonilon S. Molina and the Municipal Environment and Natural Resources Office (MENRO) Panay. Forester Molina instructed PENRO PAMBCU Chief, Erwin Ci-o, who immediately proceeded to the area together with MENRO Staff and asssessed the situation.

Mr. Ci-o decided to transfer the eggs cautiously some ten 10 meters away from the water and cordoned it with a fish net for protection. From then on, Mr. Ci-o and his staff religiously monitor the said area to ensure the protection of the eggs.

Finally, after two months, on February 7, 2022, 3:00 a.m., the hatchlings crawled out of their shells. A total of 106 hatchlings out of 127 eggs were released to their natural habitat at around 1:00 o’clock in the afternoon of the same date.

DENR PENRO Capiz spearheaded the release of the said 106 Olive ridley hatchlings in the shores of Brgy. Navitas in Panay, Capiz. Present during the said release were CDS Chief, Forester Nonilon S. Molina wherein he conducted a brief orientation, PAMBCU Chief Erwin Ci-o, CaPENRO Acting Head Atty. Emilyn Arboleda-Depon, Navitas Brgy. Captain Vicente Regalado with his Brgy.Council members, Mrs. Hardeliza Besa, MENRO Panay Staff Emmanuel Dulla, and LGU Panay Tourism representative.

Panay is one of the sixteen municipalities in the province of Capiz, and it lies along the coastal areas of Northern Panay Island. The presence of the turtle hatchlings were deemed a blessing by the locals in the area.