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DENR says traders selling iguanas as tuko


The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) on Monday revealed that some traders have reportedly been duping buyers into buying iguanas and letting them think that they bought tuko or geckos. During the day's Senate inquiry on the alleged illegal trade of geckos, DENR Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau (PAWB) Wildlife Resources Division director Josefina De Leon said that they have been receiving reports from the National Bureau of Investigation that some syndicates have been posing both as buyers and sellers of geckos. She said that syndicate members buy geckos, which have alleged medicinal properties, in front of other interested buyers from supposed gecko traders who are actually accomplices. When a victim follows their lead, De Leon said the syndicate will deliver not a gecko but a certain species of iguana to the victim. "(Then) they will go away with the money leaving the animal unusable," he said. The gecko trade The DENR had earlier said that they have been receiving reports that geckos are being sold in different parts of the country for a minimum price of P50,000 per 300 grams. Reports have also indicated that geckos are primarily being sold or bidded out online through networking sites and other Internet-based marketing networks. Senator Manuel Villar, chairman of the Senate committee on trade and commerce, said there has been much interest in geckos because of claims that they can serve as aphrodisiacs and as cure for cancer, asthma, tuberculosis, impotence and even Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS). No scientific proof But Dr. Eric Tayag, head of the Department of Health National Epidemiological Center, said there is no solid scientific basis for such claims. "The DOH does not recommend any use of gecko in any treatment at this time. There are no definitive studies at this time (so people) should not have a false sense of hope," he said. Noel Rafael, who represented the Avilon Zoo during the hearing, likewise said that geckos have no "proven medicinal value." Geckos are known in the Philippines for making sounds at night, which scientists say are used by the reptiles for social interaction. They are carnivorous, usually nocturnal, and possess sticky footpads that allow them to climb vertical surfaces. Under Republic Act 9147 or the Philippine Wildlife Resources Conservation and Protection Act, catching and selling of protected animals are illegal. On Monday, Arvin Diesmos of the Wildlife Conservation Society of the Philippines said data from the DENR show that from 2005 to 2012, an average of P9 million to P10 million worth of illegal wildlife has been confiscated by the DENR yearly. — RSJ, GMA News

Tags: tuko, gecko, denr
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