BURGOS,PANGASINAN (May 11) -- This coastal town facing the South China Sea in Western Pangasinan has become a new haven of giant sea turtles or 'pawikan' that swim in with the waves especially at night.

For several months now, Mayor Domingo Doctor confirmed there have been several sightings of sea turtles, among them the olive green and leatherbacks that are believed on the verge of extinction.

He recalled one time when a giant sea turtle that could not be lifted even by four men, landed in the shore. Its sheer size and strength was too much for its would-be captors and it escaped before they could tag its body for reference purposes.

The municipality has embarked on a conservation and protection program for the sea turtles and are now putting tags on those they capture before these are released again or put in the care of authorities. The tags, bearing the letters 'LGU-Burgos' and the name they wish to give the sea creature, are wound around the turtle's neck before they free it out to sea.

The sea turtles, according to local fishermen, come to shore at night to lay their eggs in the sand in sitio Cabungaoan, the town's beach resort. They suspect that the fine sands of Burgos may have been found by the turtles ideal for hatching area.

Doctor said the municipal government, one of the more environment-conscious local government units in Pangasinan, is set to enact an ordinance to declare some areas of the shore of Burgos not only protective areas but turtle zones.

"But we are studying the proposed ordinance deftly to ensure that this will not come in conflict with the tourism program of the municipality," the mayor said.

A lawyer, Mayor Doctor said that since there is a national legislation for the protection of sea turtles, the municipality may as well confine its ordinance to the preservation of the species not on the imposition of penalties or punishment to violators.