A lot of buyers and sellers turned to the internet to facilitate the illegal trade of tuko or gecko.
According to a report, buyers and sellers have even set-up, used accounts on the social networking site Facebook where users may post queries on particular tuko varieties they are looking for.
the tuko can cost up to a hundred thousand pesos.
The Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau (PAWB), however, points out that it is illegal to buy and sell geckos without a permit from government. Geckos is not an endangered species, the bureau warns that the indiscriminate breeding and selling of the lizard could wreak havoc on the ecosystem.
PAWB also said that illegal capture of geckos can cause imbalance in our ecosystem. Geckos eats the insects that controls or prevent the insects to over populate.
but some says that this is a modus operandi of a alleged buyer from the internet that is willing to buy the gecko for 5 million and the seller of the gecko.
The buyer of the gecko for 5 million and the seller are from the province is really connected. They are in one syndicate that when someone sees the post looking for gecko willing to buy it for 5 million the one who sees this post will also find sellers of geckos from the internet for a hundred thousand.
The man in the middle of the transaction is the victim, once you have paid the gecko for a hundred thousand the buyer form the internet will not be available anymore.
The law expressly provides that the collection, trade or transport of geckos without appropriate permits is punishable by imprisonment and fine… specifically, if the technique used in the capture of the gecko is inappropriate,” said DENR chief Ramon Paje in a statement released on Tuesday.
The Department of Health reiterated that there’s no studies supports that geckos can really cure cancer, asthma, tuberculosis, impotence and even Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS).
