Malacañang continued to keep the P40-million budget that Congress had allocated last year for the conservation of the tamaraw and the pawikan.

In exposing the irregular impoundment of the money that should have been shared equally by the Tamaraw Conservation Project and the Pawikan Conservation Project, Jonathan Ronquillo, environment campaigner of La Liga Policy Institute (La Liga), insisted the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has stashed the money away for reasons his organization can not fathom.

Thus far, Ronquillo revealed that the pawikan project received only P2,115,000 last year while tamaraw project secured only P3,862,000. The money came from the regular budget of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

DENR funding could only cover personnel services, and does not permit project officials to go after poachers.

"These wildlife conservation projects were launched to make sure that these biologically-important species will not become extinct. Their existence make the country unique from the rest of the world and for that, they should be considered national treasures.

But it seems the government's failure to release the budget on time, whether intentional or not, shows their lack of concern," he bewailed.

Aside from marine turtles, the pawikan project also includes efforts to protect dugong, or sea cows.

The Pawikan Conservation Project was one of the most successful conservation projects initiated by the government, Ronquillo noted, since it was able to establish marine turtle sanctuaries and hatcheries in Mindanao and regulate turtle egg collection. The trade of turtle eggs is illegal.