Before in my previous entry I have mentioned what a 'balinssayw' is. For the benefit of others, a balinsasayaw is a bird that is only found in Palawan Island, and is priced for its saliva. Balinsasayaw's turn their salivas into their nest. A kilo of a balinsasayaw's saliva reaches up to 25,000 to 200,000 pesos or US$5,000. Most of the buyers of these exotic foods are Chinese people who make use of them for soups and other delicacies. I once dined in a luxurious restaurant in a hotel in Manila and I saw in their menu that a bowl of a balinsasayaw soup cost 50,000 pesos. But I'm no tycoon or a billionaire to spend money for just a soup.
Because of the price, lots of people are trying to secure themselves their own balinsasayaw for personal reasons. So the government, swift enough, made a law that only licensed hunters can gather the nest of these birds and it can only be taken after the mating season so that the birds will not use their nest anymore and people can freely gather them without causing any harm to the bird.
It is now one of the reasons why the number of visitors to Palawan increased in the recent years. Everybody wants to see the creatures who make those expensive salivas.
I myself want to see this birds in flight, I saw in commercials and promotional videos before that you can watch them glide while aboard an open boat to their caves on the waters of Palawan. It seems like a perfect place for new discoveries and adventures.
Count me in for the next visitors to Palawan!
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