DENR: No reason to kill Black Shamas
THE Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) 7 is contesting the dismissal of charges against student researchers who captured and dissected eight Black Shama birds, locally known as Siloy, an endangered species.
The motion for reconsideration was filed last Monday with the Cebu City Prosecutor’s Office.
“The research could not justify the killing of the birds,” said DENR-7 information officer Eddie Llamedo.
The college students’ thesis “Diet and Preference of Cebu Black Shama in Cebu Island” was submitted as a graduation requirement in Cebu Normal University.
The DENR-7 said the study by the biology students was not authorized. The Black Shama is found in a few remaining forest patches in Cebu.
The respondents were cleared of the charge of violation of Republic Act 9147 or the Wildlife Conservation and Protection Act. DENR-7, however, reiterated that the researchers lacked a memorandum of agreement, and a special agreement in protected areas to conduct a study.
The gratuitous permit issued by the DENR’s Protected Area and Wildlife Division (PAWD) to the students said the “permitees should release the captured species after acquiring the needed samples.”
A Nov. 5, 2014 resolution of the city prosecutor’s office dismissed the DENR’s complaint for lack of legal basis and merit.
Charges were dropped against the students who graduated last March 2014. Also cleared were their thesis adviser, three other CNU teachers and University of San Carlos professor Richard Parilla.
The Black Shama (Copsychus cebuensis) is in the endangered species list of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
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