DAVAO CITY—For killing a prized eagle, a farmer in Bukidnon is facing charges punishable by up to 12 years in jail and P1 million in fines.

It was no ordinary eagle that lumad farmer Brian Balaon felled with a rifle shot and turned into soup dish tinola—it was a three-year-old juvenile male Philippine Eagle, an endangered species and one of the world’s largest and rarest eagles.

On Tuesday, the Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau (PAWB) in Bukidnon filed a criminal case against Balaon charging him with violating Republic Act No. 9147, or the Wildlife Conservation Act.

Its section 28 stipulates that those who kill critically endangered species, like the Philippine Eagle, risks imprisonment of a minimum of six years and one day to 12 years and/or a fine of P100,000 to P1 million.

The bird had been released back into the wild as part of conservation efforts.

“We are just waiting for the judge to issue a warrant of arrest for him,” Bukidnon-based PAWB superintendent Felix Mirasol told the Philippine Daily Inquirer by phone after the case was filed at prosecutor’s office in Malaybalay City.

He said Balaon, 22, was still under the custody of tribal chieftains in the village of La Fortuna in Impasug-ong town.

Balaon has admitted killing the eagle, named Kagsabua, on July 10 while it was perched on a tree near his vegetable farm. He said he thought it was an ordinary bird.

The eagle’s body was later found cut up into pieces. Its wings, which measured about three meters, and head and legs were placed in a sack and then buried.

Satellite and radio transmitters that had been attached to Kagsabua to help wildlife officials track the giant raptor were buried separately.

And its body was cooked into tinola, which Balaon and his friends ate, officials said.

Kagsabua weighed more four kilograms (about nine pounds). Kagsabua is a tribal term which means “unity.”

“The killer of the rare eagle must suffer the consequences of his dastardly act to serve as a notice to everyone that we are serious in enforcing environmental laws,” Environment Secretary Joselito Atienza said in a statement.

Kagsabua was released on March 6 after having been fitted with transmitters as part of the Philippine Eagle Foundation (PEF) efforts to conserve Philippine Eagles (Pithecophaga jefferyi).

“When they told me Kagsabua was killed by a lumad, I felt bad about it. It was too bad because he should have known better,” PEF executive director Dennis Salvador said.
He said the killing “was deliberate and malicious in its intent.”

“By burying the rest of the carcass, the perpetrator probably thought he could get away with it. I hope the DENR succeeds in prosecuting the culprit and show our people that it has the will to enforce our laws,” Salvador said.

The government considers the shooting of the bird a major setback in attempts to save the critically endangered species from extinction.

Just 250 such eagles are estimated to remain in the wilds of Mindanao island.
The slain bird had been a fledgling with a pellet wound on its neck and kept in a cage as a pet when it was rescued by wildlife officials near the 2,899-meter (9,511-foot) Mt Kitanglad in September 2006.

The bird was nursed back to health and in March released near the towering peak, where it was eventually shot.

Wildlife officials tracked down Balaon through the transmitters attached to Kagsabua.

Salvador said Sen. Miguel Zubiri called him last week and agreed that the DENR should file a case even if it was a lumad who did it.

“The people of Bukidnon and its leaders are environment-friendly,” Salvador quoted Zubiri as saying. With a report from Agence France-Presse