Surigao town lauded for local support for eagle conservation 

GIGAQUIT, Surigao del Norte — Conservationists lauded the local government here for declaring the Philippine Eagle (Pithecophaga jefferyi) and the Mindanao bleeding-heart as their town’s flagship species. “By declaring these species as municipal symbols, Gigaquit has made a powerful statement: biodiversity is identity and conservation is policy,” said retired Lt. Gen. William Hotchkiss III, president