De Guzman, Elli Dale DM.

October 29, 2013

ENV20/A25 Prof. Ruth Aquino

Candaba wild birds hunted despite ban
By Tonette Orejas
Inquirer Central Luzon
2:20 am | Monday, July 8th, 2013

Source:
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/440361/candaba-wild-birds-hunted-despite-ban


POACHERS TARGET Bird hunters have descended on Candaba Swamp, a sanctuary for endemic and
migratory wild birds in Pampanga, threatening to bring to naught conservation efforts. E.I. REYMOND T.
OREJAS/INQUIRER CENTRAL LUZON

CITY OF SAN FERNANDODespite a ban, bird hunting has resumed in the globally
important habitat of migratory waterfowls in Candaba town, Pampanga province, a
volunteer reported on Sunday.
Albert Manalili, a local animal welfare advocate, said poachers from nearby Bulacan
had been coming almost daily to Paligui village since last week.
They (poachers) are armed with shotguns and panpugo (a bamboo contraption),
and they ignore our warnings and advice not to shoot the birds, Manalili, 54, told
the Inquirer by telephone.
One told me that he was not concerned about the ban because Jerry Pelayo is not
anymore the mayor here, he said.
Despite a national and local ban on bird hunting, Manalili said the Philippine mallard
or duck (locally known as dumara) had become a favorite poaching target. Some
people relish the Philippine ducks soft meat, especially in adobo.

Vulnerable
The Philippine duck (Anas luzonica) is the countrys only endemic duck, according
to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR). It is classified as
vulnerable under the Red List of Threatened Species of the International Union for
Conservation of Nature.
According to Manalili, birds known here as tikling, wis and bato-bato are also
being killed.
The new mayor, Rene Maglanque, said he had ordered the police to verify the
information relayed by Manalili.
The municipal government will at all times advocate the strict implementation of
laws and ordinances involving wildlife protection and conservation, Maglanque
said, articulating for the first time his administrations policy on Candaba Swamp.
Republic Act No. 9147 imposes the conservation and protection of wildlife
resources.

Wildlife zone
Resolution No. 51, sponsored by Councilor Pedro Guevarra in 2004, declared the
33,000-hectare Candaba Swamp a bird sanctuary. The wildlife habitat straddles
Nueva Ecija and Bulacan.
Guevarras resolution augmented a 2003 ordinance that declared Candaba Swamp a
freshwater, aquaculture resource and fish sanctuary zone for the purpose of
protecting and preserving its flora and fauna.
These declarations, according to the 2004 resolution, bolster the municipalitys
quest of harnessing and developing its ecotourism potential.
In February, a bird hunter, Herbert Jacobe, was arrested and charged with violating
RA No. 9147 for killing 12 dumara.
Sought for comment, Pelayo said Maglanque only had to enforce the laws to be able
to protect the birds and their habitat in the town.
I know he has his priorities and I hope bird conservation is among them because
this is beneficial for the global and local biodiversity as well as ecotourism of
Candaba, the former mayor said.

Bird population
The Asian Waterbird Census done in January by the DENR and the Wild Bird Club of
the Philippines in two sites counted 5,475 fowls, less than half of the 12,600 birds
tallied in the 2012 census.
Two new speciesa dusky warbler and the common shell duckwere sighted at a
nearby pond in Sitio (settlement) Macagatal. The warbler was seen on Pelayos farm
in Doa Simang.
The January census showed 14 migratory species, including the little egret,
intermediate egret, great egret, gray heron, common teal, northern shoveler, tufted
duck, common kingfisher, common sandpiper, wood sandpiper, northern pintail,
garganey, whiskered tern and the eagle-like eastern marsh harrier.
A bean goose, known only to live in Europe, was first seen in the Philippines, in
Candaba, in March 2010, according to the Fauna and Flora International, the oldest
conservation group in the world.
Candaba recorded 67 migratory birds and 53 local species in the 1990s. Migratory
birds flock to its swamp starting October and leave by March.
Candaba Swamp is one of five wetlands in Central Luzon. The others are Paitan
Lake in Cuyapo town and Pantabangan Dam, both in Nueva Ecija; Puerto Rivas in
Balanga City, and Consuelo in Macabebe town in Pampanga.