Sustainability Corporate Social Responsibility

AboitizPower celebrates Pangarap's 19th hatchday by appreciating Davao’s rich fauna

March 02, 2018

AboitizPower subsidiaries in Mindanao celebrated the 19th hatchday of their adopted eagle Pangarap through a birdwatching activity with partners from the media and the Philippine Eagle Foundation (PEF).

Pangarap turned 19 years old on February 23, 2018, during which the group learned about the rich fauna at the Philippine Eagle Center and the surrounding Malagos watershed. Studies show that more than 50 species of birds may be spotted around the area on any given day.

"The activity helped us appreciate the rich fauna of the Malagos watershed and Mindanao. This made us value more the support we give to the Philippine eagle, being the most rare and perhaps the most beautiful of the birds in the world," Therma South HR associate Joyce Lora said.

The birdwatching activity drew participants from AboitizPower and its Mindanao-based subsidiaries Davao Light, Therma South, and Hedcor. Media from Mindanao Times, Sunstar, and TV5 also joined.

Coincidentally, AboitizPower also marks 2018 as the 8th year of supporting the upkeep of Pangarap, which it formally adopted in 2010.

During the three-hour activity, AboitizPower and its partners saw around 17 bird species, some of which are endemic to the Philippines while a few can only be found on Mindanao Island. Some of the sighted species were Brown-breasted Kingfisher, Brown Shrike, Little Egret, Olive-backed Sunbird, and Pacific Swallow.

Jay Ocubillo, Davao Light's HR supervisor, said seeing birds up close is quite different from only looking at them in pictures.“It made us realize how important it is to protect the Philippine eagle and, in general, the different species of birds in Mindanao and the Philippines,” he added.

CJ Bajao of Hedcor said, "We thank the Philippine Eagle Center for its conservation efforts and we hope the support of AboitizPower will inspire other companies to pitch in as well."

PEF, for its part, thanked AboitizPower for the consistent support.

“Our longstanding partnership with AboitizPower has been instrumental in our advocacy to save the Philippine eagle. Through their adoption of Pangarap, they have helped support our various initiatives in the Captive Breeding Program and our efforts to raise awareness for the mission,” PEF executive director Dennis Salvador said.

Born on February 23, 1999 at the PEF Center in Davao City, Pangarap has been taken care of by her keeper Manong Eddie since then.

Having laid an infertile egg two days after artificial insemination in December 2017, reproduction has not been easy for Pangarap. She was only inseminated once this breeding season due to insufficient semen collected from male imprint Philippine eagles.

But her keeper, with whom Pangarap has formed a strong bond, hopes she will finally be able to lay a fertile egg during the next breeding season.

Captive-bred through natural pairing, Pangarap is one of the 32 Philippine eagles under the care of the PEF’s conservation breeding program.

The Philippine eagle is the PEF’s flagship for conservation, with the organization taking direct action to protect and breed this endangered species in a bid to preserve the ecosystem.

You may visit Pangarap at: Philippine Eagle Foundation

Address: Philippine Eagle Center, Malagos, Baguio District, Davao City

Landline: +63 082 324 1860Mobile No.: +63 917 719 8093

Email Address: info@philippineeaglefoundation.org