Peddlers of endangered birds charged

CEBU, Philippines - Criminal charges have been filed in court against the two persons who were caught selling endangered birds.

Stephen Ng Sy, 34, resident of C. Padilla, Cebu City, and Alberto Primor, 27, of  Lagtang, Talisay City, were charged for violation of the country’s Wildlife Resources Conservation and Protection Act.

Sy and Primor, however, were released from detention after posting P60,000 bail each.

The Department of  Environment and Natural Resources-7 filed the case on Monday before the Talisay City Prosecutor’s Office. The prosecutor’s office indicted the suspects for violation of Section 27 of  the Republic Act 9147.

Under Section 27 of the said law, trading of  wildlife is being prohibited.

Violators may face imprisonment of two years and one day to four years and/or a fine of P5,000 to P300,000 if inflicted or undertaken against species listed as critically endangered.

If inflicted or undertaken against endangered species, violators may also face imprisonment of one year and one day to two years and/or a fine of P2,000 to P200,000.

At least 11 birds, some of them have already been declared as endangered, were seized by the members of the Provincial Environmental Task Force headed Loy Anthony Madrigal during a buy-bust operation Friday morning in San Roque, Talisay City.

Authorities seized from the suspects two Philippine Hawk Eagles, Crested Serpent Eagle, six Cockatoos, Blue-backed parrot and a Dark-eared Brown Dove.

Ariel Rica, DENR ecosystems management specialist, earlier disclosed that Philippine Hawk Eagles, Cockatoo and Serpent Eagles are now considered ‘critical endangered’ species which is already close to becoming extinct in the wild.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species classifies threatened species into different categories depending on their relative risk of extinction. These include ‘vulnerable’, ‘endangered’, and ‘critically endangered’.

Threatened species are those that are facing threats to their survival, and may be at risk of becoming extinct.

Madrigal said that one of  the two Philippine Hawk Eagles already died.

“Piso pa man gud to, di maagwanta ingon ato kalayo ang byahe. Basin stress kaayo,” he said, adding that all seized birds were checked by the Provincial Veterinary Office and found them to be weak.

The remaining birds were already turned over to Crocolandia, a nature conservation center in Talisay City, Madrigal added.— (FREEMAN)