Environment Secretary Lito Atienza warned the public on Monday that killing, collecting or inflicting injury on wildlife, including birds is unlawful, with violators facing imprisonment and fines.

Atienza issued the warning in the wake of reports that some groups and individuals are actively engaged in hunting down birds—some of which have been classified as vulnerable or threatened—as a hobby or as a commercial venture.

“I have issued an order to field personnel of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to look for or monitor the activities of bird hunters and act accordingly, in coordination with local government and police officials,” Atienza said.

“We have a Wildlife Act aimed at conserving and protecting wildlife resources and habitats. This law explicitly prohibits the killing, collecting, hunting or possessing wildlife, their by-products and derivatives. We must implement this.”

Atienza expressed serious concern about reports that bird hunting expeditions are being organized by certain groups. Some have even advertised on the Internet, soliciting public participation in bird hunting activities.

Earlier, the Wild Bird Club of the Philippines called for a stop to bird hunting to prevent certain species of birds that have been classified as vulnerable from being hunted to extinction.

At the same time, the club documented a record 17,000 migratory birds at the Candaba Swamp during a visit on Saturday.

The club’s concern was aired during the Saturday bird-watching activity where Dutch Ambassador Robert Brinks, Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye and Wild Bird Club officers and members were present.

Candaba Mayor Jerry Pelayo invited the personalities.

Club president Michael Lu said: “We accept hunting of game for food and culling in case of overpopulation, and for ritual purposes. But we fail to see how defiance of the law qualifies sports hunters as conservationists, especially when they proudly display dead birds of a vulnerable species.”

Lu, in an interview at the bird-watching facility of Pelayo in Doña Simang, barangay San Pablo, said one of the species that was displayed on several of the web sites as having been shot down in numbers that horrify scientists and birders alike was the Philippine Duck, known in Candaba as the “Dumara.”

“The species is endemic to the Philippines and classified as vulnerable, with only 5,000 to 10,000 birds left. The majesty of these birds in flight, in their delicate V-formation, cannot fail to inspire.

That is why the interruption of their flight by hunters, some of which are members of the Philippine National Shooting Team, makes us shudder,” he said.

The group also appealed to the DENR and the Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau (PAWB) to speedily and effectively enforce of RA 9147.

“This [hunting of vulnerable and endemic species] are crimes against the Filipino people and future generations in the global community who may never know these creatures being hunted to extinction,” the group said in a statement.

Pelayo said the migratory birds have been regular visitors to the 90-hectare reservation which he has cordoned off to hunters and trappers, especially those preying on dumara and snipes.

“We have been a favored sanctuary of the migratory birds, the number of which continues to increase over the years since we started monitoring their activities in 2005, when I ordered a stop to hunting. In fact, adobong dumara and snipe is no longer being served because of the lack of the birds’ meat,” Pelayo stressed.

He revealed plans to construct more facilities at the site and in barangay Paralaya, also in Candaba to provide for the needs of bird-watchers and tourists who are attracted by the migratory birds that come to the swamplands during the winter season in some countries.

He said even rare species, such as the Eurasian Spoonbill, one of which was photographed by Tina Mallari, was the first record of the said bird in the country, along with the Shrenk’s Bittern, the Great Bittern and the Gadwall. The Gadwall, a species of strongly migratory duck, has been recorded in the country only twice, both in Candaba, in 1978 and 1981.

Palace sacks DBM bureau director

Malacañang on Monday affirmed the recommendation of the Presidential Antigraft Commission (PAGC) to dismiss a bureau director of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) for giving “undue favor” to some government agencies.

CONGRESS is being asked to craft a trouble-free corporate recovery program which, Sen. Edgardo Angara asserted, is urgently needed because “the present legislative framework of our insolvency proceedings is sorely outdated.”

ENVIRONMENT Secretary Lito Atienza on Monday lauded the Supreme Court’s (SC) move to designate 117 trial courts as “green” courts to expedite the prosecution of environmental criminals and boost efforts to enforce environmental laws.

THE government’s anticoup force confirmed that the communist New People’s Army (NPA) is trying to get in touch with some members of the rightist Magdalo Group to stage destabilization efforts that will coincide with the planned protest rallies on January 22.

Environment Secretary Lito Atienza warned the public on Monday that killing, collecting or inflicting injury on wildlife, including birds is unlawful, with violators facing imprisonment and fines.

DAVAO CITY—The governor of Davao del Norte, has asked loggers and wood processors to help save watershed that they denuded to earn a lot of money.

ZAMBOANGA CITY—A police official disclosed that a faction of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) occupied a school building in Zamboanga del Norte.