Early morning last Friday, pedicab drivers at the Virac public market glimpsed two slender reptiles swimming in the gently flowing water of Gogon river below the footbridge.
It was a pair of reticulated pythons, or “ilago” in the local dialect, that witnesses surmised emerged from a nearby drainage canal.
The sighting was confirmed by an early market goer who shone his flashlight on the pair more than two meters long that proceeded slowly towards a stand of mangrove and nipa palms just beyond the Gogon bridge and beside the VTC construction site.
The fact that the reptiles have been seen in the midst of the commercial district of Virac highlights the difficulty that newly deputized Wildlife Enforcement Officers could face in protecting the wildlife of the island province.
While the reticulated pythons (Malayopython reticulatos) are non-venomous and are normally not dangerous to humans, they are known to snatch stray chicken, cats and dogs aside from their usual prey of small mammals like rodents.
The snakes could come in contact with the human population, whose normal instinct is usually to attack the reptile until it is dead.
Pythons are among the 16 reptiles included in the list of threatened Philippine fauna species endemic or resident in the island.
Classified as critically endangered are Hawksbill sea turtles while three others are considered endangered – the Green sea turtle, Olive Ridley sea turtle and Loggerhead sea turtle.
The Gray’s monitor lizard, known locally as “haro” or “bayawak,” is listed as a vulnerable specie.
Other threatened reptiles in Catanduanes are the Green crested lizard, Marbled crested lizard, Philippine cobra, King cobra, Tokay gecko, Malayan box turtle, Philippine river skink, Enteng’s monitor lizard, and Philippine pit viper.
Under Republic Act 9147 enacted in 2001, it shall be unlawful for any person to willfully and knowingly exploit wildlife resources and their habitats or kill and destroy wildlife species as well as inflict injury on their reproductive system.
The law also prohibits any of the following acts in critical habitats: dumping of waste products detrimental to wildlife; squatting or otherwise occupying any portion of the critical habitat; mineral exploration and/or extraction; burning; logging; and quarrying.
It likewise bans the introduction, reintroduction or restocking of wildlife resources; trading of wildlife; collecting, hunting or possessing wildlife, their by-products and derivatives; gathering or destroying of active nests, nest trees, host plants and the like; maltreating and/or inflicting other injuries on wildlife; and transporting of wildlife.
(to be continued)