ROXAS CITY (5 July) -- The City of Roxas, provincial capital of Capiz and known as the seafood capital of the Philippines, has invited the Ambassadors of Japan and China and dignitaries from the national government to grace its first-ever “diwal” festival slated here from July 15-16, 2005.

City mayor Antonio Del Rosario said they are organizing the festival to hail the recrudescence of one of the Capiceños’ highly valued and exotic seafood named “diwal” or angelwings.

The chief city executive has mobilized the various instrumentalities of the city government and solicited the support of the private and business sectors for the festival dubbed “Diwal Harvest – Roxas’ Seafood Festival.”

Del Rosario said diwal, which bears the scientific name of Pholas orientalis (Gmelin) had disappeared from the coastal waters of this city several years ago due to indiscriminate fishing methods employed by some fishermen that led to the destruction of diwal’s habitats.

Diwal, a sweet, juicy and tender tasting bivalve from the Family Pholadidae of mollusks, thrives in the muddy sand substratum in the littoral zone or in compact bluish-gray muddy sand in the sub-littoral zone in coastal areas. It is abundant during the months from May to July, with the latter month as the peak harvest season for the bivalve.

In 1994, the city government declared a moratorium on the gathering of diwal and funded a study of the Institute of Aquaculture, College of Fisheries, University of the Philippines in the Visayas in Iloilo to establish sanctuaries for diwal and help regenerate its dwindling population then. The study eventually succeeded in making possible the resurgence of the prized bivalve and its continuing existence.

Among those invited by the city government are the ambassadors of Japan and China, Senate President Franklin Drilon, Sen. Manuel Roxas II, DOT Secretary Joseph Ace Durano, Department of Agriculture (DA) Undersecretary for Fisheries, Livestock and Regulation Cesar Drilon, Jr., and noted broadcast journalist Korina Sanchez.

Diwal commands a premium price in Metro Manila where it became one of the top local products showcased by Capiz at the “Kabugana-an Sang Western Visayas” tourism festival spearheaded by the Department of Tourism (DOT) from June 18-30, 2005 at Intramuros, Manila.

The chief city executive said he is happy that the effort of the city government together with the UPV College of Fisheries and other institutions has paid off in terms of reviving diwal in local coastal waters as a tourist come-on and as a source of livelihood and jobs of fisherfolk and their families in line with President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s major development thrusts.

The City Tourism Office headed by Rodolfo Maestro, Jr. has lined up a series of activities to highlight the city’s first diwal festival.

Diwal also thrives in some areas of Iloilo and Negros Occidental. (PIA-JSC)