Cultural performance

Festivals-

PAWIKAN FESTIVAL - western coast of the historic peninsula of Bataan sits the sleepy
town of Morong, where every late November local townsfolk celebrate marine turtle
conservation with their annual Pawikan Festival. Its sandy shores are vital nesting grounds
for the endangered Olive Ridley species, the smallest of the world’s eight sea turtle species.
Interestingly, what was once a site of rampant poaching and illegal egg collecting has become
a successful community of environmental advocates for the past eight years: definitely
something worth celebrating in a country where natural resources and endemic species are
constantly under serious threat.

At the Community-based Pawikan Conservation Center at Nagbalayong Beach, visitors can learn
about and interact with an adult ‘pawikan’ or sea turtle. The highlight of the festival is the morning
release of numerous turtle hatchlings along the beach, where they photogenically skedaddle to the
rolling waters like frisky scraps of adorable leather. A NatGeo moment. Through the Center, one may
sponsor a turtle and join a group release. Other activities during the festival include a walk-for-a-
cause, ethnic dances, sand sculpting, body painting, kite flying, beach volleyball and beach concerts.

Famous tourist spot

Hanging bridge- is a famous tourist spot in Morong Bataasn located at Kanawan, Sabang
Morong, Bataan.

Pawikan Conservation Center- According to Manolo Ebias, one of the members of the
organization, the best time to visit the Pawikan Conservation Center is between the months of
August and February. During these months, female marine turtles go back to the shore to lay
their eggs.
Ebias also mentioned that these months are their “peak season” as many local and
international tourists and students would flock to the center and volunteer in patrolling the
shore and watching the eggs hatch. Some also join the center’s “Adopt a Turtle Program,”
where people get to have a baby turtle that they release back to the sea for only Php 50/turtle.

To accommodate the surge of visitors who want to camp out and wait for the turtle eggs to
hatch, the Pawikan Conservation Center has a number of air-conditioned rooms visitors can
rent out for a comfortable stay in the area. They can accommodate 5 to 16 persons (Php 2500
– Php 4500); depending on the kind of room they want to avail. The center has also been a
home to the pawikan who were injured in the sea. Rescued by fishermen and some of the
members of the organization, these marine turtles are treated and rehabilitated until they’re
capable and strong enough to go back to their habitat.