Joy Adalia
When news of the wildlife hunting in UP Diliman campus hit social media, netizens were torn about who was right and who was wrong.
Many appreciate the Lu-Ann Fuentes-Bajarias’ efforts to bring the incident for public awareness but others threw hate comments at her, saying she was only trying to gain attention and those men simply found the bird already dead!
The Hunting
According to Kicker Daily, Bajarias and her husband, Amado, were at the UP Diliman lagoon to enjoy nature tripping and bird watching. Though they saw the three men taking fish, crabs, and various stuff at the lagoon, they simply ignored them – until they heard a sound that had them running towards the trio.
They allegedly found one of the men hitting the bird in the water. Amado identified the bird as a black bittern, an elusive species rarely seen in the area.
The men appeared to not know that what they were doing is illegal. The couple reported the incident to the authorities but also posted it on social media, not as a ‘witchhunt’ for those men to be caught but to raise awareness that wildlife hunting is not legal, especially in protected areas such as the UP Diliman campus.
The Social Media Attack
A lot of people sided with Bajarias, saying those men should have left those poor bird alone but there were also many who called her an elitist who looked down on those ‘kalakal’ boys just because of their appearance.
There were those who cited reports that the men only found the bird already dead and claimed that Bajarias asked them to pose for a photograph its carcass! For those people, Bajarias was merely trying to draw attention to herself.
So, who is telling the truth now? It is a case of 2 bird watching enthusiasts who, by the way, are founding members of the Wild Bird Club of the Philippines, versus 3 ‘kalakal’ boys. Whose testimony will hold water in court?
Netizens are crying foul, saying students framed up these men, then Bajarias asked the trio for a photo with the bird, knowing such a photo will become viral. For me, though, that simply sounds incredulous!
Aside from that, many are also saying the couple should not feel too strongly about one dead bird if it meant the families of these 3 men were able to eat! Amado opposes that, though, saying the bird was too thin to be food. Besides, why pick on a rare bird – though, as I see it, those guys have no idea that 1) it was a rare bird and 2) they were breaking the law.
Still, in all these hoopla about the wildlife hunting, I take the side of Bajarias on this one – how about you? What do you think about the hunting that Bajarias claimed to have happened inside UP Diliman campus?
