NEWS: Groups slam Singson's wild duck-hunting activities

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Groups slam Chavit Singson and daughter's wild duck-hunting activities
By AMANDA FERNANDEZ, GMA News
November 4, 2013

Wild duck for dinner?

The daughter of former Ilocos Sur Governor Chavit Singson seemed unaware of any laws that may have been broken as she posted photos of herself and her father hunting wild ducks in the province.

Richelle Louise Singson-Michael posted the photos on Instagram and Facebook with the hash tags "#Hunting #fatherdaughter #bonding #whatsfordinner? #wildduck #adobo". The photos have gone viral on the Net among bird enthusiasts and photographers.

In a comment on one of the photos, Richelle said it was taken "somewhere in Ilocos Sur."

The Wild Bird Club of the Philippines has decried the Singsons' actions, saying that wild duck hunting is illegal in the Philippines.

"While the Club desperately promotes bird watching to raise the need for environmental conservation, some of our countrymen spend family-bonding time killing birds," the group said on its Facebook account. "Hunting, poaching and even mere possession of wildlife is illegal in the Philippines."

"In the Daang Matuwid administration, why are some people—I was told he is a governor—still above the law?," it added.

'Vulnerable duck'

In an interview with GMA News Online, the club's founding chairman Mike Lu identified the hunted birds as endemic Philippine duck.

According to an article on the Department of Environment and Natural Resources site, the Philippine duck is the country's only endemic duck and is classified as "vulnerable" under the Red List of Threatened Species of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Republic Act 9147, the Wildlife Resources Conservation and Protection Act, states that the collection and hunting of threatened wildlife is prohibited.

"Actually lahat ng wildlife bawal, may corresponding multa," Lu said.

He noted that while other countries have hunting season, "sa buong Pilipinas walang hunting season; mere posession is illegal."

"It seems like no one bothers to implement the law," he added.

Wild Bird Photographers of the Philippines co-founder and vice president Alain Pascua said the penalty for killing vulnerable wildlife may be imprisonment of two to four years and/or a fine of P30,000 – P300,000 ($750 – $7500).

"Mere possession of these species, evidenced by trophy pictures posted on websites, is already punishable by law," he added.

He also noted that a 26-year-old farmer in Bukidnon, identified as Bryan Balaon, was sentenced last May 2012 to six years in prison for killing a Philippine eagle with an air gun. "The eagle is classified as critically endangered with just 90 to 250 pairs left in the wild, he added.

"The lowly hunter who can barely read or write is prosecuted for shooting an eagle. These people are educated and have access to information about the law, yet they flaunt their hunting and killing like they don't fear prosecution. Do they think they are exempted from abiding the law?" he said.

Meanwhile, bird photographer Sylvia Ramos noted that last year, a man was arrested for shooting wild ducks in Pampanga.

GMA News Online has tried to reach the Singsons for comment.

In an article posted on Inquirer last April 22, 2013, Chavit said he is fond of hunting wild duck in Ilocos Sur, Mindoro, Pampanga, Sweden, Australia and South Africa. — BM, GMA News


Source: www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/333919/news/nation/groups-slam-chavit-singson-and-daughter-s-wild-duck-hunting-activities

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Wildlife bureau looking into Chavit Singson's duck-hunting trip with daughter
Nov. 5, 2013

Photos of a former Ilocos Sur governor and his daughter hunting wild ducks has prompted the Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau to launch an investigation into the incident.

According to a "24 Oras" report aired Tuesday evening, PAWB is working on building a case against the Singsons because hunting wild ducks is illegal in the Philippines.

“Bawal iyon. Hindi tayo nag-allow ng hunting for wild duck... Kailangang i-investigate natin iyong veracity ng photos,” said Dr. Mundita Lim, PWAB director.

The Wildlife Resources Conservation and Protection Act prohibits the willful and knowledgeable exploitation of wildlife resources and their habitats.

The Philippine duck is endemic to the country and is included in the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species.

The overt flaunting of the perpetrated crime dismayed the Wild Bird Club of the Philippines (WBCP), who expected the former governor to know laws on the conservation of local species.

“Nagulat rin ako na 'yung hunters ay educated people, very wealth and very powerful people. He's been a congressman, he's been a governor. Di ba lawmaker ka, alam mo dapat 'yung batas?,” said Michael Lu of WBCP.

“Nagulat kami na may mga Facebook pages pa pala na hunters, so madami palang hunters sa Pilipinas. Knowing that it's a crime, pinagyayabang pa nila na 'kaya namin',” he added.

Lu, co-founder and vice president of WBCP said in an earlier article that there is no hunting season in the country because it is illegal to hunt wildlife in the Philippines.

Three weeks before the picture went viral, Rochelle Louise Singson-Michael posted various photos on Instagram depicting her holding dead ducks and rifles with her father, former Ilocos Sur governor Luis "Chavit" Singson.

In the screen-capped photograph, she even used hashtags such as #Hunting, #fatherdaughter, #bonding, #whatsfordinner?, #wildduck, #adobo.

In the photograph's page, she even joked with a friend that the ducks will taste better because of the work she and her father put in to get the meat. The photographs have since then been removed from her account.

GMA News Online has yet to receive a response from the Singsons. — Rie Takumi/JDS, GMA News

Source: www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/334131/news/nation/wildlife-bureau-looking-into-chavit-singson-s-duck-hunting-trip-with-daughter#

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Duck dynasty? Singson’s hunting trip irks critics
By Vincent Cabreza / Inquirer Northern Luzon
November 6, 2013

BAGUIO CITY—Former Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis “Chavit” Singson and his daughter Richelle Louisse Singson-Michael are under fire from a wildlife protection group after pictures posted online showed them shooting and killing wild ducks last month.

Gina Mapua, president of the Wild Bird Club of the Philippines (WBCP), said she believed the Singsons were shooting endangered species.

“Hunting is illegal in this country,” she told the Inquirer on the telephone on Tuesday.

An official of the Ilocos regional office of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said Singson had not been sanctioned for violating any wildlife law so far.

The DENR had allowed the former governor to import and take care of endangered species in his zoo at the Baluarte compound in Vigan City, said Samuel Peñafiel, DENR Ilocos director, in a telephone interview on Tuesday.

The Inquirer tried but failed to reach Singson since Monday.

Dead ducks

Singson and his daughter were shown holding dead ducks in two of four photographs uploaded through Michael’s Instagram account last month. The pictures, however, were removed from the account on Nov. 4.

Another photograph shows at least 10 dead ducks lined up in front of Michael and an unidentified companion. Another picture shows Singson’s daughter aiming a rifle.

All four photographs were posted on the Facebook account of the WBCP, which ran the following comment:

“While the club desperately promotes bird-watching to raise the need for environmental conservation, some of our countrymen spend family-bonding time killing birds. Hunting, poaching and even mere possession of wildlife are illegal in the Philippines. In the daang matuwid administration, why are some people—I was told he is a governor—still above the law?”

The Instagram account identified the site as Ilocos Sur, but Peñafiel said he had no record of swamplands in Singson’s province that were uninhabited and suited for hunting ducks.

Hunting for vitality

In an April 22 story in the Inquirer, Singson said he was into hunting to retain his vitality. He said he shot wild ducks in Ilocos Sur and traveled to other hunting grounds in Mindoro, Pampanga, Sweden, Australia and South Africa.

Mapua said the club did not want Singson jailed, although that was a penalty cited in Republic Act No. 9147, the Wildlife Resources Conservation and Protection Act.

RA 9147 cites hunting of endangered species among the conservation law’s illegal acts. It sanctions people who harm or kill critically endangered species with a two-year jail term and a fine of up to P300,000.

Future generations

Mapua said the club wanted “to draw attention to them [the Singsons],” hoping to convince them to “please consider conservation for our future generations.”

The Philippines has 673 bird species, which have been documented by the global wildlife conservation community, she said, adding that about 10,000 wild ducks remain in the country.

Peñafiel said Singson had been busy processing an application to bring in more animals to Baluarte.

He said three months ago, the DENR Ilocos office endorsed Singson’s application to import an animal from South Africa. But he said his office had not been informed yet if the government had granted the request.

Singson’s Baluarte houses various wild animals, including tigers, exotic birds and various species of reptiles.

Source: newsinfo.inquirer.net/521081/duck-dynasty-singsons-hunting-trip-irks-critics#ixzz2jqDeQNEE

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Chavit's daughter claims they shot endemic ducks outside PHL
November 6, 2013

Former Ilocos Sur Governor Chavit Singson and his daughter Richelle have defended their hunting of the rare and endemic Philippine Ducks, which has drawn intense criticism from the birding community, by claiming in a statement that the killings of the protected species occurred overseas.

"The photo was not even taken in the Philippines. I had to take the photo down because of the influx of comments that were very mean to my family, even to my one-year-old son," said Richelle Singson-Michael in a statement emailed to GMA News Online, which broke the story on Monday and published the photos of the Singson father and daughter showing off about a dozen carcasses of the birds.

She added in her email that her statement was approved by her father.

She had posted the pictures on both her Facebook and Instagram accounts, where bird watchers quickly pointed out that killing the birds was a crime.

When asked through a friend, Richelle declined to name the country where she and her father, an avid hunter, shot the birds.

However, in a comment underneath the photos on her Facebook page, she had earlier acknowledged that the killings occurred "somewhere in Ilocos." The photos have been deleted from her timeline, but the screengrab is posted above, with her comment highlighted.

Orange crowns and other distinctive features mark the birds as unmistakable Philippine Ducks. "The ducks have stripes across the eyes a la Cleopatra. Girls describe it as eyeliners," said Mike Lu, a former president of the Wild Bird Club of the Philippines.

According to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Philippine Ducks, or Mallards (Anas luzonica), is an endemic species, meaning it is found only in the Philippines, although so-called "vagrants," or individual birds, can sometimes get lost and end up in neighboring countries.

However, it would have been impossible for the Singsons to shoot that many Philippine Ducks anywhere else but the Philippines, according to wildlife biologist Carmela Española of the University of the Philippines' Institute of Biology.

"They don't occur in those numbers elsewhere," said Española, who has seen the photos of the Singsons with the dead birds. "It's a big loss. Very little is known about their ecology and population. There is nothing published about their breeding."

According to the IUCN, as long ago as 2002, fewer than 10,000 of the birds were believed to remain in the world.

"This duck is listed as Vulnerable," states the IUCN, "because it is undergoing a rapid and continuing decline owing to extensive over-hunting and the widespread conversion of its wetland habitats."

The Wildlife Protection Act prohibits the "killing and destroying of wildlife species, except when it is done as part of the religious rituals of established tribal groups or indigenous cultural communities."

On Tuesday, the Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau said it would launch an investigation into the reported hunting of wild ducks, which is illegal in the Philippines.

The Singsons insist that they did not break any laws.

"We definitely do not think that we are above the law. My Dad always taught us that the law is there for a reason, to be respected and obeyed," Richelle said in her statement.

"My Dad is an animal lover... He is a good Dad and leads a good example in telling his kids right from wrong. He would never promote anything illegal even for bonding purposes," she added. – Howie Severino/ China Jocson/ YA, GMA News

Source: www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/334232/news/regions/chavit-s-daughter-claims-they-shot-endemic-ducks-outside-phl

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NBI probes Chavit Singson, daughter for wild duck hunting
by Pia Ranada
Nov. 25, 2013

MANILA, Philippines – Reports that former Ilocos Sur governor Luis "Chavit" Singson and his daughter hunted and killed vulnerable and protected wildlife in the Philippines are now being investigated by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).

The issue first surfaced when an Instagram post by Singson's daughter Richelle Singson-Michael showed her and her father proudly holding up carcasses of wild ducks. In the photos, Singson-Michael aims a hunting rifle while surrounded by grassy, forested terrain. She and her father pose beside a row of the dead birds.

The post – now deleted – sparked outrage among bird watchers and environmentalists all over the world. A Change.org petition by the Wild Bird Club of the Philippines to stop the Singsons' deadly sport now has more than 1,100 signatures.

The Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau (PAWB) has begun its investigation of the case but has called on the help of the NBI Cybercrime Unit to probe the online evidence linked to the case – specifically, the Instagram and Facebook posts of Singson-Michael. The unit has the power to coordinate access to relevant social media accounts of the younger Singson.

Vulnerable, endemic species

The wild ducks killed by the Singsons for sport appear to be Philippine wild ducks, a vulnerable species protected by Philippine law.

The Wildlife Conservation and Protection Act imposes imprisonment of up to 4 years and a fine of P30,000 to P300,000 for the killing of vulnerable species.

Singson-Michael later told local media that the photos were in fact not taken in the Philippines.

But PAWB Wildlife Division chief Josie de Leon does not buy this: "The photos were clearly of Philippine wildducks. These are found only in the Philippines."

She added that though the Singsons have a permit to keep wild ducks, they do not have license to hunt them down.

There are 234 species of birds found only in the Philippines, according to the Wild Bird Club of the Philippines.

"The survival of many of these species is already under threat from loss of habitat. Our wildlife cannot survive being hunted whether for sport, recreation, or sustenance," they added.

The group blasted the Singsons for their alleged actions which "encourage others to imitate them and are one of the causes of the decline and possible extinction of our unique Philippine species."

This is not the first time the older Singson has been linked to controversial wildlife hunting. The 5-term Ilocos Sur governor was heavily criticized online for leaked photos showing him hunting down lions in Africa for his birthday.

He keeps tigers and other wild animals in his Baluarte Zoo, now a popular tourist attraction in Vigan, Ilocos Sur. The zoo's website says it is "dedicated to facilitating education, conservation and protection of endangered species and wildlife."

The outrage of animal lovers was stoked earlier this month over an American reality television show about a female lion-hunter.

Singson played a key role in the ouster of former President Joseph Estrada in 2001. A longtime Estrada friend, he became a whistleblower and accused Estrada of earning from jueteng, an illegal numbers game. – Rappler.com

Source: www.rappler.com/nation/44554-chavit-singson-wild-duck-hunting