BALANGA CITY — The Philippine Eagle Foundation (PEF) on Saturday started its
two-day solidarity run from Mariveles, Bataan to the City of San Fernando in
Pampanga to raise awareness on eagles while at the same time caring for one’s
health.
Dr. Robert Kennedy, ornithologist of PEF research and conservation, and JC Santa
Teresa, holder of Guinness World Record on most consecutive days running an
ultramarathon, will be joining the runners.
The activity dubbed “Agilaya Solidarity Run for Peace, Health and Philippine
Eagles” started Saturday at 4 a.m. at the Zero Kilometer Death March marker in
Mariveles and ends in Abucay, Bataan or at KM 51 as the first leg.
On the next day Sunday, the final leg covers from KM 41 in Abucay to KM 102 at
the old train station in the City of San Fernando.
In a press briefing Friday, Kennedy said he learned that people joining the
ultramarathon were already excited. He said that there are no requirements and
a participant can walk, run 100 yards, 100 meters, 51 kilometers, or 102
kilometers.
“This is not a race and we are not running this as a race. We have to save energy
for the next day,” Kennedy said.
Kennedy said the Philippine eagle is considered as the third largest eagle in the
world with a maximum weight of seven kilograms and wing span of two meters.
He said that there are only 300 to 600 pairs of eagles in the world left and the
Philippine eagle is one of the rarest that can be found in Luzon, Samar, Leyte, and
Mindanao.
Kennedy said he was happy that PEF and the Department of Environment and
Natural Resources are working together to save this bird. He was one of the first
who made researches on the monkey-eating eagle in the Philippines.
Dr. Jason Ibanez, PEF director for research, said that aside from those who signed
up, there are small groups of runners in Bataan who will join them along the way.
He said that although the forests of Bataan are still vacant habitat and there is no
Philippine eagle yet, they are excited to explore these forests to become future
home of eagle releases.
“Alam namin ang value ng forest so value-adding lang ang release nitong ibon in
the future dahil dadaan pa ito sa research, assessments at kami ay natutuwa na
nandiyan ang DENR na very supportive,” Ibanez said.
He said the solidarity run is important in terms of information campaign,
education awareness and of protecting the existing forests of Bataan not only for
Philippine eagles but also for water sheds, air sheds, global climate change
adaptation and navigation.
“We are hoping through this event na parang kickoff siya through the media na
maumpisahan ang awareness campaign. Hindi pa dito matatapos at kami ay
nagpaplano na sa susunod na activities next year gaganapin ang annual Philippine
Eagle week celebration every June so expect mga exhibits, film shows and
education campaign sa mga malls and schools,” Ibanez said.
“Ang programang ito ay para sa preservation of Philippine eagles, public
awareness campaign at we highlight ang conservation through this marathon na
ang nagsign-up na ay nasa 50 people at ito ay open sa lahat at anytime puede sila
pumasok sa route,” Ibanez added.
Dr. Dennis Salvador, PFP executive director, said they have 35 eagles in captivity
at their Davao center and two in Singapore through breeding agreement. He said
eagles can be found in the wild in the islands of Mindanao, Samar, Leyte and
Luzon.
He said that the solidarity run is important: “Una, ito ay nagre-raise ng public
awareness and hopefully to motivate people to look after their own health and
finally, we hope that the youngest generation will start volunteering and
donating for environmental causes.”
Gov. Jose Enrique Garcia III, provincial environment officer Victor Ubaldo and
provincial board members Manuel Beltran, Lisa Roque, and Noel Valdecanas
welcomed the holding of the ultramarathon and look forward to having a
Philippine eagle released in the Bataan forest.
