THE Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the Philippine Council for Sustainable Development (PCSD) is now building a case against unscrupulous individuals behind the illegal trade of giant clams in Johnson Island and Green Island in Roxas, Palawan.
The DENR said the illegal activity involving the harvest of some 300 pieces of giant clam shells in Johnson Island and 150 tons of giant clams in Green Island in March and April, respectively, constitute the crime of illegal wildlife trade. These are a violation of Republic Act (RA) 9147 or the Wildlife Resources Conservation and Protection Act of 2001.
The DENR has appealed to the public to be cautious in dealing with individuals who pose as science researchers to harvest giant clams, listed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) because of excessive collection for food, agriculture and the aquarium trade.
The PCSD, an attached agency of the DENR by virtue of Executive Order 734 series of 2008, together with other concerned government agencies seized the giant clam shells from Johnson Island and tons of giant clams in Green Island in March and April, as part of the intensified campaign against illegal wildlife trade.
“Our vast wildlife resources, especially in Palawan, considered as the country’s ‘last ecological frontier,’ should be protected with utmost responsibility from frauds,” Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Roy A. Cimatu was quoted in a statement as saying. “This is the reason behind the DENR’s stringent laws and policies on wildlife and its scrutiny of individuals who want to gain access or control over these species.
PCSD Executive Director Teodoro Jose S. Matta said he met with a “Dr. Rosalee Tequillo,” who identified herself as the national facilitator of the National Redemption Program for Fossilized Giant Clams and “buyer” of the giant clams for scientific purposes.
“There was an admission on the part of Tequillo that they were engaged in the collection and possession of giant clamshells or ‘taklobo’ (Tridacna gigas),” Matta said adding that Tequillo wasn’t able to prove these were for scientific purposes.
“Her mention of the ‘buyer’ has inclined us to believe that it was not truly for scientific or breeding or propagation purpose,” Matta said.
He added that Tequillo failed to provide valid documentary evidence to prove that their activities are legal.
Matta said Tequillo was also unable to present any document from the Office of the President (OP) about the National Redemption Program. He further explained that the only evidence she presented is a document purportedly from the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) National Director Commodore Eduardo B. Gongona.
“But upon examination of said document, the Palawan Council for Sustainable Development staff found that it did not and does not, in any way, give Tequillo and her group or any private individual any authority to collect, extract, or possess fossilized giant clam species,” Matta said.
The PCSD warned the group that “the conduct of such undertaking under the guise of possessing legal authority from the OP and the BFAR and misinforming the public, carry the imposition of corresponding sanctions under the law.”
Matta said the PCSD will “remain firm in its commitment to clamp down on illegal wildlife trade in Palawan and ensure a sustainable environment for Palaweños.”
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