PLEASE SIGN & SHARE WIDELY THIS VIP PETITION ▬►chn.ge/1uTYOhd ✦SKINNED ALIVE, SLAUGHTERED AND STUFFED ◕Manila- The Philippine National Police on Tuesday intercepted a Chinese fishing boat carrying about 555 MARINE TURTLES off Half Moon Shoal in the Spratlys,“As per inventory, out of the 555 sea turtles that were recovered, ONLY 177 WERE FOUND ALIVE!! , while the rest were dead. Two hundred seven of them were skinned alive, slaughtered and stuffed,Seventy-five sea turtle shells were also found in the seized fishing vessel.the shell being sold as luxury items in China the maritime group said in its report. ◕The 177 alive sea turtles released back into the sea by the PNP maritime group were part of the 555 endangered marine mammals that police maritime patrollers found in the vessel of the Chinese fishermen last week... ◕-MANILA, Philippine government agencies will file charges of environmental crime against the 11 Chinese fishermen arrested off the coast of Palawan on Tuesday, May 6 ◕The fishermen were found with about 500 live and dead turtles (approx 350 dead sea turtles skinned alive!! only 177 were found alive and put it back to sea by the authorities!) in their boat when they were intercepted by the Philippine National Police (PNP) maritime group on Hasa-Hasa Shoal (Half Moon Shoal), 60 nautical miles from Palawan. We intend to file charges for the violation of the Philippine Wildlife Act and Philippine Fisheries Code if they are proven to have poached in Philippine waters, Department of Environment and Natural Resources Biodiversity Management Bureau (DENR-BMB) chief Theresa Mundita Lim told Rappler on Friday, May 9. To strengthen the case, it will be filed jointly with the Palawan Council for Sustainable Development (PCSD), a multisectoral body that decides on environmental issues in Palawan, the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), and the PNP. ◕Beyond apprehension.. Under the Wildlife Act, the Chinese fishermen may face up to 12 years in prison or a fine of P1 million each (USD$22,600), said Lim. It should go beyond apprehension. There must be filing of charges and convictions so we can prevent this from happening again, she added. ◕Lim said the DENR-BMB had yet to make an inventory of the turtles at the time of the interview with Rappler, and cannot say how many of the turtles are still alive... ◕The PNP Maritime Group had earlier said that the suspects -- 11 Chinese fishermen and 5 Filipinos manning another seized boat in the same area -- had been brought to the PNPs Special Boat Units headquarters in Puerto Princesa, Palawan at around 4 am on Thursday, May 8. ◕Lim says the turtles found in the Chinese boat are likely to be Philippine sea turtles, popularly known as pawikan, an endangered animal protected by local and international wildlife conservation laws. ◕Taking an inventory would give valuable insight into the alleged poaching. for instance, if the sea turtles are female, it would mean poachers hunted them on the beach since only females go up to the beach in order to lay eggs, explained Lim. ◕If the turtles are male and juvenile, the poachers likely dove into the sea to catch them. ◕◕Impact of poaching: Finding out the animals gender would also give a bigger picture of the impact of the crime. Catching females would impact greatly on the population. The survival rate of hatchlings is already so low. Poaching threatens them even more, said Lim. ◕◕Sea turtles are in great demand in China, Hong Kong Taiwan and Japan for their meat and shells often used for jewelry. -Once an inventory of the turtles is completed, the DENR regional office in Palawan will tag the healthy turtles before releasing them back into the wild. Sick or injured turtles will be rehabilitated in Palawan. ◕The DENR will conduct a necropsy on the dead turtles and get a DNA sample. The results can be used to build up the case against the Chinese fishermen. ◕The planned filing of charges is expected to draw another howl from China, which had already deemed the arrest as a premeditated provocative act deliberately done by Philippine authorities to create more tension in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea). ◕China claims that Hasa-Hasa Shoal, which it calls Banyue Reef, is part of its territory. ◕Philippine officials maintained, however, that the arrest was made in the performance of the duty of the maritime police patrolling the area. ◕The PNP had even said that its slow patrol boat only managed to intercept the Chinese vessel and a local boat -- out of several others found in the area -- as these two had mechanical trouble and could not flee with the rest. What we did is not a provocative action (but) based on international law. Chinese fishermen violated our maritime laws, Foreign Affairs Spokesman Charles Jose said in an interview with ANC on Thursday. -The Department of Foreign Affairs had given its assurance that concerned authorities in Palawan will address the case in a just, humane and expeditious manner. ✦✦MORE INFOS HERE:▬►on.fb.me/1hL5kh6 ✦VIDEO ENGLISH BROADCAST NEWS HERE: ►youtu.be/v7sjbi7MrVE Thank you~Tony Zadel
Posted on: Wed, 14 May 2014 07:39:46 +0000
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