Gina Mapua, president of the Wild Bird Club of the Philippines (WBCP), said she believed the Singsons were shooting endangered species.
鈥淗unting is illegal in this country,鈥� 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 Pe帽afiel, 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鈥檚 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鈥檚 daughter aiming a rifle.
All four photographs were posted on the Facebook account of the WBCP, which ran the following comment:
鈥淲hile 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鈥擨 was told he is a governor鈥攕till above the law?鈥�
The Instagram account identified the site as Ilocos Sur, but Pe帽afiel said he had no record of swamplands in Singson鈥檚 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鈥檚 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 鈥渢o draw attention to them [the Singsons],鈥� hoping to convince them to 鈥減lease consider conservation for our future generations.鈥�
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.
Pe帽afiel 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鈥檚 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鈥檚 Baluarte houses various wild animals, including tigers, exotic birds and various species of reptiles.