Existing ban on bird breeding to be expanded to a 4-km radius

MANILA, Philippines – A Parañaque councilor is seeking to expand the ban on breeding domesticated birds in the city, to include remote-controlled scale model aircraft, kites, and bee culture to secure air traffic at the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) complex.

In a phone interview, Councilor Eric Baes said the draft ordinance he initiated sought to amend a municipal ordinance, which outlawed the breeding of pigeons and other domesticated birds within a one mile-radius (1.6 km) of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport and the Manila Domestic Terminal.

“We recognize that this [bird breeding] is a source of livelihood for some of our residents. They could still do so, just not within the radius of the airport terminals,” Baes said.

The draft ordinance seeks to expand the no-breeding zone for birds to 2.5 miles (four kilometers) was received by the council secretariat in May and the measure was up for first reading in the committee level, the official said.

He would also schedule public hearings into the matter where resource persons from the MIAA and environment experts could offer their thoughts on the proposed ordinance.

The councilor expressed fears of a worst case scenario in which a bird strike could force an aircraft to land in residential areas of the city. That would be catastrophic, he said.

He recalled one instance in his youth when a trainer plane crash-landed in a street in Barangay Baclaran where he lived.

He could not remember if it was caused by a bird strike but he said the crash caused a scare in the neighborhood, recalling that authorities banned open flames for about a week to let the noxious fumes from the plane dissipate in the air.

Baes said he included bee culture in the ban after seeing one television report about a swarm of bees stirring alarm at the NAIA Terminal 3. The swarm, however, might indicate the city was still suitable for bee culture, he added.

As for kites and remote controlled aircraft, these could also fly high enough to hit plane engines, Baes explained.

The councilor’s proposed ordinance stemmed from a letter sent by MIAA general manager Jose Angel Honrado to City Mayor Florencio Bernabe Jr., according to Baes.