Empowering government and industry action on key wildlife trafficking issues in the Philippines

Earlier this year, separate groups of stakeholders gathered for training at a major airport and on wildlife cybercrime focused on the Visayas region, significant for the connectivity it provides between major regions in the archipelagic nation.  

At the Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA), government agencies and private players received training on wildlife law and policy, law enforcement protocols, CITES*, identification of commonly traded species, smuggling techniques, tracking criminal networks using communications and financial data, and collaboration to prevent smuggling.  

The airport that has handled over 12 million domestic and international passengers annually since 2019 and serves as an Asian-Pacific transportation hub for cargo services, making it a prime target for wildlife trafficking activities. Illegal wildlife interdictions at the airport have included two back-to-back shipments of dried seahorses by the Philippines' Bureau of Customs totaling over 68kg in 2019.  

The training was organized by TRAFFIC and the BOC and was part of efforts that began in Manila in June 2024 to enhance interdiction of illegal wildlife products smuggled in passenger luggage and cargo. 

Crucially, this training was driven by several BOC officers handpicked from an earlier Training-of-Trainers programme. Their leadership demonstrated that the capacity to address wildlife crime had been integrated locally, ensuring the project's continued viability. Diana Abigail Asilo, Acting Customs Operations Officer V of the BOC said:

“We harnessed our training and facilitation skills through the interactive exercises and case studies jointly developed with TRAFFIC, which is the best way to encourage learning.” 

Meanwhile, training to detect and investigate wildlife cybercrime took place in Lapu-Lapu City a few days later aimed at helping law enforcement shift gears as illegal wildlife traders increasingly move online.  

TRAFFIC’s wildlife trade research in the Philippines has documented the online trade in a range of taxa including freshwater turtles and tortoises, hornbills, Indonesian bird species, and agarwood.  

The Philippines has also scored a landmark conviction in 2023 when an online trader was convicted of violating the Wildlife Resources Conservation and Protection Act for offering Chinese Giant Salamander Andrias davidianus online. The species is prohibited from commercial international trade.  

Training sessions in the region were part of TRAFFIC’s efforts to expand awareness and action on the issue more broadly across the country. 

“Wildlife cybercrime is widespread, and we recognize that tackling it is immensely challenging,” said Serene Chng, TRAFFIC Programme Manager. “The opportunity to train enforcers at the local level means empowering those on the frontline.” 

Officers from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) studied methods and tools available to root out and investigate illegal traders online.  

The training covered topics such as detecting and prioritizing top traders and illegal wildlife trading activity, data processing, storage and analysis, and even linkages to financial investigations.  

“Wildlife cybercrime is a scourge plaguing us and it is helpful for our officers to have this knowledge and resources to shut down online wildlife traffickers,” said Paquito Melicor Jr., Regional Executive Director, DENR 7.