Escario St. vendors charged for selling exotic birds

Three vendors will stand trial for selling exotic birds along Escario Street in Cebu City.

Spouses Benjamin and Myrabel Abella, residents of barangay Guadalupe, and their relative Darwin Abella of barangay Tisa, Cebu City were charged in court for violation of Republic Act 9147 or the Wildlife Resources Conservation and Protection Act.
Bail was recommended at P8,000 for each accused.

The three  vendors were arrested by a team from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) last June 22 after they failed to show permits to sell wildlife.

Confiscated from the accused were a Palawan Hill Myna, two Visayan Tarictic Hornbills, two Black-masked Lovebirds, and 28 African Lovebirds.

Except for the African Lovebirds, the seized birds were classified as “endangered species.”

The vendors waived a preliminary investigation so charges were filed directly in the Regional Trial Court.

A  team of DENR officers regularly monitor Escario Street, a known spot for the sale of exotic birds.

Under the law, it is illegal to kill, capture, trade, possess or trade any kind of wildlife unless  a permit is issued by the Envrionment Secretary or his designated representative.

The illegal trade of endangered species draws a penalty of one year to two years imprisonment or a fine of  P2,000 to P200,000,  or both.

For other types of wildlife, which are not otherwise classified as threatened, critical, endangered or vulnerable (like the African lovebirds), the penalty is reduced to at ten days to 1 month imprisonment or  a fine of P200 to P20,000, or both, at the discretion of the court.