Personnel of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) arrested two people for allegedly trying to sell pangolins through social media for P75,000 each
DENR SEc. Roy Cimatu said Rowena Pindot and Joel Quimado were collared in an entrapment in Pasay City after agents from the DENR's Biodiversity Management Bureau (DENR-BMB) were tipped about the online selling activity of the two.

Seized from them were six live pangolins, consisting of five adult males and one adult female.
Pangolins are protected by the Philippine government under Republic Act RA 9147 or the Wildlife Resources Protection and Conservation Act of 2001.
Section 23 of RA 9147 states that collection of threatened wildlife including the by-products and derivatives shall be allowed only for scientific, or breeding or propagation purposes, and provided that only the accredited individuals, business, research, educational or scientific entities shall be allowed to collect for conservation breeding or propagation purposes.
Pangolins are being sold for their scales which are being used for traditional medicine and their blood and meat are being consumed for health benefits, although there are no scientific pieces of evidence to back these up.

Cimatu then urged the public to heighten vigilance against illegal wildlife trade.
"The pandemic has spotlighted the lethal consequences of illegal wildlife trade to our ecosystem and the public health risks associated with it. We will not tolerate these activities. We are assuring the public that reports provided to the DENR will be acted upon promptly," Cimatu said.
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