REGEN | Full Episode | May 20, 2026

Added: 2026-05-20

[00:00:27]Deep in the heart of the Philippine forest, echoes a call carried by the wind.

[00:00:33]Rising above ancient trees, here soars a creature found nowhere else on Earth.

[00:00:40]The great and majestic Philippine eagle.

[00:00:45]Yet, as mighty as it is, its very existence is in peril due to habitat loss and human persecution.

[00:00:54]But, in every story of loss comes a ray of hope.

[00:00:58]At the forefront of its conservation is a group working tirelessly to save this national bird from extinction.

[00:01:07]In this episode of RE:GEN, we journey to the heart of Mindanao to follow the mission of the Philippine Eagle Foundation and discover why the survival of this great bird is tied to our own.

[00:02:07]>> Our story begins here at the Philippine Eagle Center in Davao City.

[00:02:12]A sanctuary for the Philippine eagles and other animals rescued from the wild.

[00:02:18]For nearly four decades, the Philippine Eagle Foundation has devoted its life's work to ensure the protection of the eagles. One of its leading conservationists is Dr. Jason Ibañez.

[00:02:31]A biologist whose love for the Philippine eagle began with an article in an old magazine.

[00:02:37]And so, I'm Jason Ibañez.

[00:02:40]I'm the director for operations of the Philippine Eagle Foundation.

[00:02:45]I had become fond of the Philippine eagle way back when I was still in high school. After seeing the photo of the Philippine eagle in a in an old National Geographic magazine, I immediately fell in love with the bird, you know?

[00:02:59]I I I really loved the idea that we have one of the largest eagles in the world.

[00:03:05]We have this really majestic Philippine eagle found only in the Philippines, which is I believe that is as Filipino as I am Filipino. So, that that idea actually struck me. And so, when I was in the university studying uh biology and majoring in ecology, I already knew that I really would want to work uh in studying the bird and then helping in its uh conservation. And that dream came true when I was hired.

[00:03:34]Fresh from the university, I was hired as a young field biologist with the Philippine Eagle Foundation. Well, the Philippine Eagle Foundation started way back in the 1970s through the efforts of the late Dr. Bob Kennedy.

[00:03:49]So, it was formerly a government project started with uh research on Philippine Eagles in the wild, and then a conservation breeding program began.

[00:04:00]But then there were challenges with respect to government funding, and so um in 1987, the program was reorganized as an NGO called the Philippine Eagle Conservation Program Foundation.

[00:04:12]Uh through the efforts of the pioneer researchers as well as conservation uh breeding team, the NGO had its humble beginnings. So, since 1987, part of our mission really is to help the country conserve its national symbol, our national bird, our apex predator, uh the Philippine Eagle. And part of that mission is also to preserve and protect the forests that the Philippine Eagles need.

[00:04:44]Unlike any other birds of prey, the Philippine Eagle rules the forest as the largest top predator. Standing nearly 3 ft tall, with a wingspan up to 7 ft, and talons built to crush. It is one of the rarest eagles in the world that can only be found in four islands in the Philippines: Luzon, Samar, Leyte, and Mindanao.

[00:05:09]The Philippine Eagle is our apex predator. It's an important component of the Philippine forest ecosystem. We're also using the Philippine Eagle as a flagship for protecting carbon forests, for protecting biodiversity, watersheds, and all other benefits. It's one of the most beautiful eagles in the world. It's the only raptor that is blue-eyed or blue-gray eyed.

[00:05:33]Now, there's no other raptor that has uh the same eye color. And uh it's also one of the largest and most powerful eagles in the world. In fact, based on a a DNA study, the Philippine Eagle has a very unique genetic lineage. It's not a relative to any eagles of the world.

[00:05:50]It's remotely related to the snake eagles of Africa, but it's a unique product of creation.

[00:05:57]In fact, the Philippine eagle is regarded as the species with the highest energy expenditure in taking care of its young.

[00:06:07]You know, it spends a lot of energy.

[00:06:09]You know, it it lays a single egg. It incubates the egg for the next 6 months.

[00:06:15]And then beyond that, it still takes care of a single young for the next 1 and 1/2 years.

[00:06:20]And until the young eagle flies off the nest when it's almost 2 years old. So, it has the longest um caring period for its for its young.

[00:06:33]But despite its power, this great bird is in peril.

[00:06:38]Since 1996, it has been declared by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as critically endangered with an estimated number of only 400 breeding pairs left in the wild.

[00:06:52]Well, apart from operating as an NGO that's very dependent on grants and donations, we also have logistical challenges such as the difficulty of doing surveys in the field. There's also the challenge of insurgency problems in many of the Philippine eagle habitats.

[00:07:13]There's also the challenge of continuing persecution of Philippine eagles. You know, we still have some of our fellow Filipinos still see the Philippine eagle, our national bird, as a food source.

[00:07:27]Um some of them still uh use the forests and convert them to agricultural areas.

[00:07:36]It's sad to say, uh so unfortunate for this species of birds, uh which is also endemic in the Philippines. They are now critically endangered so they're facing really critical conditions. It means very alarming cuz you know the worst things to happen next would be extinct from the wild. So One of the reasons why for so long they're still critically endangered species by the IUCN.

[00:08:07]Cuz you know number one their breeding biology is sometimes really challenging.

[00:08:12]In the wild if we refer to the wild behavior the breeding cycle really takes two years. So they will produce one egg lit every two years and then in every clutch it's only one egg.

[00:08:26]And then the maturity is very slow.

[00:08:28]It takes five years to seven years for the Philippine Eagle especially the female before they reproduce by its own.

[00:08:38]So there are two main reasons why the Philippine Eagle population is diminishing. One is loss of habitat. So deforestation, conversion of forest to agricultural areas the cutting of forests for development is a major threat. The Philippine Eagle could not live outside of the forest. It couldn't live in plantations it couldn't live naturally in farms.

[00:09:03]The forest is its natural home. And second is the continued persecution, the shooting, hunting and trapping of Philippine Eagles. And so that means that Philippine Eagles are still vulnerable to human persecution and this needs to change.

[00:09:20]Because as long as there's threat to the status of the Philippine Eagles it means that our very own lives are also in danger.

[00:09:27]That's the reason why the PEF foundation was formed to help protect, propagate and in captive setting about this conserving and preserving our national heritage at the same time you know I think national bird the Philippine eagles.

[00:09:45]Up next, we dive into the daily routines at the Philippine Eagle Center and discover the work it takes to protect the country's national bird from extinction. The journey will be right back.

[00:10:00]Your bill, SIR.

[00:10:01]>> WHAT? 40,000 PESOS? ONE FOR ONLY, SIR.

[00:10:04]>> Price check or I Way to success?

[00:10:17]Start with the best.

[00:10:19]New Era University.

[00:10:24]Where we guide every individual to their natural state of excellence.

[00:10:32]Enroll now.

[00:10:34]Because New Era University awaits the future we can build together.

[00:10:48]It's feeding time at the Philippine Eagle Center.

[00:10:51]Senior animal keeper and breeding manager Dominic Tadena leads their care.

[00:10:57]For him, protecting the eagle is more than just a job but the fight for its survival, the forest and the future.

[00:11:05]Every time in the morning I have to go visit uh my birds. Uh for example, Vigo because Vigo is one of my uh human imprinted birds. So, it to push out.

[00:11:17]And this show come again there's interference involvement big involvement of human being to do their breeding activities or behaviors. So, for example, I have to go visit Oh, my birds, feed the birds, uh spend time a lot of time. When I say spend time uh kumbaga satin uh you quality time with the birds. So, I have to do that every day. At least 30 minutes every visit. And then I do visits four, five times a day.

[00:11:46]So, that's my routine. So, I have to go around all with my birds.

[00:11:51]Uh it could be male, female birds that I'm I'm really working with uh for the breeding purposes.

[00:12:09]Uh we incorporate two methods or techniques in doing this. Uh the first one which we always prioritize uh to have these birds in the natural pairing, we call it. So, both male, female living together in one big enclosures uh for breeding.

[00:12:51]For the Philippine Eagle Foundation, every rescue tells a bigger story.

[00:12:56]One of their core missions is the rescue and rehabilitation of injured or displaced eagles, ensuring these birds get the care they need to survive and return to the wild.

[00:13:08]So, our mission is really to help save the country's national bird, um the Philippine Eagle.

[00:13:13]And uh we have uh four major programs, namely the conservation breeding program, the research and conservation program, we have the uh development program, as well as uh our um education program.

[00:13:30]We've been doing rescue operations. As a matter of fact, this Philippine Eagle Center started with the rescue birds.

[00:13:38]So, we do rescue and then rehabilitations. After rehabilitations, we do evaluations of the behavior of the birds. If it's really fits to be released in the wild.

[00:13:49]So, for those birds that are qualified to be released, we right away release after everything, all the physical checks out.

[00:13:58]All the laboratory tests qualified or really passed.

[00:14:02]But some that were compromised, that have permanent damage, couldn't survive in the wild. So, we retain them as our breeding materials.

[00:14:11]And then the offsprings are the ones that being released in the wild.

[00:14:16]We rescued Kalatungan 1 from Bukidnon, from Kalatungan Mountain. There are some other stories behind it. People just say, "Oh, it was just found the ground."

[00:14:25]But when we do our physical check-ups, thorough check-up, and blood sampling, swabbing, so it found out that that the birds have multiple bullets or pellets inside his body.

[00:14:38]And so, with that, our vets really made a good job there performing surgery for like just a minor getting all collecting all those pellets within the bird's body and the bird really successfully recovered and so I think reintroduction program of our Philippine Eagle in the on the island of Leyte.

[00:15:13]I guess the most challenging so far that I've experienced is doing rescues during the pandemic. And this happened when we rescued Philippine Eagle Shogun from Zamboanga del Norte.

[00:15:28]So, we did the first telemedicine or video conference with our colleagues from Zamboanga together with a veterinarian to discuss how we can take care of a rescued Philippine Eagle.

[00:15:41]Uh because our team couldn't go there.

[00:15:43]She was um accidentally trapped in a trap intended for wild pig. And so, our colleagues from the DNR took care of the bird with instructions coming from our team again through video calls.

[00:15:57]Uh we prescribed what medicine to give, uh how how they should take care of the bird, what they should feed it. And then, that was very successful. After a few months of rehabilitation, after x-rays and tests showed that she's ready to be back in the wild, we installed GPS and radio transmitters on each bird that was successfully rehabilitated before we release them back to the wild.

[00:16:22]Philippine Eagle Foundation is having a big milestone right now. With a breeding success that we have, even right now we succeeded with our artificial breeding.

[00:16:33]We even now practicing the semen cryopreservation techniques like freezing semen for long-term storage.

[00:16:41]So, it means we can now have our semen preserved and we can use it after like 50 100 years. This time we stimulate the female.

[00:16:52]No worries about the semen because we have ready like stored semen that we can use right away. So, it's very very advanced technology that we're using right now here. And so, it's a good milestone for the PF.

[00:17:07]And the hope is really up high.

[00:17:09]Uh high expectations uh that we can have it right now.

[00:17:18]We actually have a lot of um um educational campaigns. Uh first, here at the Philippine Eagle Center, we are positioning the Philippine Eagle Center as a premier educational hub for biodiversity conservation and wildlife appreciation. And we're also developing the center to be a center for entertainment or education and entertainment.

[00:17:41]Uh so, basically, people come here not only as a tourist, but they also come here as learners of uh biodiversity conservation, what we do as a foundation, and uh influence of the general public to participate in our conservation mission.

[00:17:56]And we also have a learn with Malaya. We use uh Malaya, uh our mascot, as the our education ambassador. Um but we also do field-based education outreach. We go to the community, especially those who are recognized as Philippine Eagle nest sites, and um indigenous cultural communities to educate them what biodiversity conservation and how them as a community can help participate in our mission and the importance of protecting wildlife in their cultural legacy or in their cultural context.

[00:18:28]I guess a major milestone for the conservation program is, of course, coming up with a concise population estimate. Now, we know that there are no more than 392 pairs across the Philippines. And we also know where suitable habitats are. You know, it's a very important scientific information.

[00:18:48]You cannot save a species if you don't know where they are.

[00:18:52]So, by um using this information, what we're now doing is to is exploring as many habitats as possible, finding the Philippine Eagle pair, and then making sure that if that pair is threatened, and if the habitat is in danger, then there should be a conservation program that's put in place. Every release we have, there's always a chance for this Philippine eagle to leave long-term survival in the wild. So, every birds, every individual counts. So, every time we release, we know that we add numbers on that specific regions, a specific mountains, hoping that they have to make of their own.

[00:19:38]There's no need for human intervention anymore.

[00:19:42]After the release, what we do is always just monitor the birds, do wildlife awareness to the communities nearby. And there's always a hope in every release of these birds.

[00:19:54]As Region continues, we'll hear stories of hope and commitment from the people who believe in the Philippine Eagle's future and how each Filipino can take part in protecting it. We'll be right back.

[00:20:48]The most lucky one of these critically endangered and sooner worse condition to become extinct from the wild.

[00:20:57]So, pretty soon they're just uh to our enclosures.

[00:21:04]I believe that the Philippine Eagle really symbolizes our story.

[00:21:11]First of all, it's found only in the Philippines.

[00:21:14]You know, so we can proudly say that the Philippine Eagle is a genuine Filipino.

[00:21:20]It's also dependent on the forests that we are also very dependent on. The Philippine Eagle also holds large tract of territories in the same way that indigenous peoples have their own ancestral lands or territories. In fact, many indigenous peoples associate with the Philippine Eagle because they believe that the Philippine Eagle also represents their aspirations and their statues.

[00:21:44]And so, we believe that the best way to really keep forests intact is to work with the indigenous and community owners of this forest. If we can demonstrate that people and Philippine Eagles can actually coexist, you know, and they can use the same forests sustainably, then I think we have a chance at saving our national bird. So, the work of the Philippine Eagle Foundation invests also on building community capacities and then community empowerment so that they can save the Eagles, protect the forests on everyone's behalf. So, how do we do it? So, we make sure that conservation brings in green jobs for the indigenous peoples. We hire them as our co-researchers. Now, we train them.

[00:22:34]We uh put in place a forest guard program.

[00:22:38]Um they get extra income from uh getting hired as forest guards. We also provide livelihood support, and then we also help them with their other aspirations such as uh providing um social services. In one of our communities in Davao City, we helped set up a uh daycare center for the community that's living close to a Philippine Eagle nesting site. So, by doing that they appreciate what the Philip- the Philippine Eagle can bring to them, which is essentially a social service that they need. We also have adoption schemes for the animals. We have Adopt-A-Critter where a family or even an individual or a company can adopt our non-Philippine Eagles, but we also have the Adopt-An-Eagle uh sponsorship.

[00:23:30]Starting with the So, We have this #YouCan.

[00:23:49]A #YouCan means that Philippine Eagle conservation and biodiversity conservation in general is a shared responsibility. We just serve as instruments to conduct and to implement conservation efforts on the ground, but it is really the responsibility of every Filipino to protect our national bird since it has ecological integrity and cultural relevance as well, it being our national bird. So, it's representative of us being Filipinos.

[00:24:19]From the interest of helping out in my little way in my own little way of saving the species.

[00:24:26]Now, at first it was just a hobby of working with wildlife animals. So nice to be, you know, helping with them, feeding, cleaning, interacting with them, but that habit really developed into a passion. It so happened that it's I really like the Philippine Eagle because they are the ones that really need understanding, help for their own survival because these birds really need some human understanding at the moment. They are the king of Philippine skies.

[00:24:57]only human are the enemies.

[00:25:00]Like direct enemies of this Philippine eagle.

[00:25:03]And I want to dedicate my myself to helping, protect, and prevent this Philippine eagle from being extinct. So, for those who are living in the Davao region, you know, we're open to uh volunteers. You know, they can do work here at the Philippine Eagle Center or join our research team. Um if um they're in other islands, you know, we also have partners um that uh the volunteers can also contact.

[00:25:32]You can do like simple ways of like offering, rendering your internship, or volunteering activities here at the PEF.

[00:25:41]It could be in the field monitoring for wild populations, community-based projects, or even in captive settings.

[00:25:48]So, let's work it hand in hand. We cannot do this without everyone else.

[00:25:52]I'm really grateful to all our pioneers and to all the experts that came before us, uh Philippine Eagle Conservation practitioners that came before us.

[00:26:05]The work that we're doing now is just a continuation of what they have started.

[00:26:09]They have provided the inspiration.

[00:26:11]They have provided the guidance.

[00:26:14]Many of our pioneers went through a lot to maintain this project. And I will always be grateful to them. Again, we're standing on the shoulder of giants.

[00:26:27]And I think uh I have that moral responsibility to continue the inspiration that they've shared, the efforts that they've shared.

[00:26:37]And uh this is something that um I believe I should do, uh to pass on eventually the responsibility to the next generation of um biologists. And by doing that, we keep the flame of hope for Philippine Eagle conservation alive.

[00:26:55]Well, my hope for the future of the Philippine Eagle is to be brighter.

[00:27:00]And a brighter future would mean that every Filipino recognizes the value of the Philippine Eagle to their lives.

[00:27:11]Um, I really hope that each Filipino would recognize the Philippine Eagle as a legitimate citizen of this country.

[00:27:23]And in the same way that we don't want to harm our fellows, um, my hope is that in every decision that our fellow Filipinos make, they would also consider the welfare of um the Philippine Eagles.

[00:27:38]My hope is that there would be more protected territories for wild Philippine Eagle pairs.

[00:27:46]My hope is that kids of this generation and of the next can still have the chance to see the majesty of the Eagles not in captivity, but in the wild.

[00:28:00]And um my uh statement is that this is doable.

[00:28:07]Uh especially if every Filipino would do his part.

[00:28:12]Saving the king of the skies is a fight we all share.

[00:28:16]Every effort to save this great bird helps secure the forests and the future.

[00:29:19]>> Hey.