Davao City mayor Sara Duterte slams Korean vessel owner, crew, and passengers for eating endangered sea turtle

Sun.Star Davao reports that Davao City mayor Sara Duterte has urged the city council to declare Hannah Parks, owner of the Korean vessel MV Hannah II, as well as well as the said ship’s crew and passengers as persona non grata after they allegedly dumped parts of a green sea turtle in a garbage bin in a wharf."

The report noted: "Parks said they were not the ones who caught and killed the turtle. They also did not buy it, but admitted they ate it." Unfortunately, Duterte is still fuming because "green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas) are listed as endangered by both the World Conservation Union and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (Cites)."

The report pointed out that Parks issued a public apology on the controversial incident.  The report revealed, "She said the sea turtle, which was given to them by the president of Palau during a recent visit, was slaughtered there and the remains were kept in a freezer as they started traveling to the Philippines in November last year." However, Duterte evidently didn’t buy the explanation.  She said, "Ano akala nila sa atin, maliliit ang utak (Do they think we're dumb)? If they killed and ate (the sea turtle) in Palau, why travel all the way to Davao with the carcass? I saw the pictures, it wasn’t decomposing."

According to the Sun.Star davao report, "once declared as persona non grata, the parties involved will no longer be allowed to enter the jurisdiction of the city by land or by sea."

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