17/02/2021
Animal welfare is Human Welfare. Anna cabrera, PAWS executive Director - Banzski Documentary
In the Philippines, animal welfare legislation is made up of the Animal Welfare Act (1998), the Wildlife Resources Conservation and Protection Act (2001) and a large number of supporting Administrative Orders regulating many processes and facilities that affect animal lives, such as farm animal transport and pet shops. Although sentience is not formally recognised in legislation, there is legal recognition that a large number of animals, both vertebrates and invertebrates, can suffer both physically and mentally, and the Five Freedoms are also enshrined in law. Similarly, guidelines on chicken and pig rearing, transport and slaughter were written to align with OIE standards. Much of the legislation goes beyond considerations of animal health from human health and productivity perspectives signifying that animal welfare is important in the Philippines.
While there are many aspects to Philippine law that have a positive effect on animal welfare, this is not equal across all animal species. The Wildlife Resources Conservation and Protection Act provides anti-cruelty provisions for wild animals but also allows many species to be hunted even when listed under CITES conservation status as βthreatenedβ. The commercial breeding of wild animals is also allowed in legislation. Similarly, there is a lack of legislation banning inherently cruel and unnecessary practices such as fur farming, long-distance transport of live animals and testing on animals for cosmetics, including on wild caught animals. While zoos are somewhat regulated and require licences, there are no further Administrative Orders governing best practice and guidelines for animal welfare. Under Philippine law there are also inconsistencies. Dog and horse fighting are banned outright in the Animal Welfare Act (1998), whereas cockfighting is not.
Animal Welfare governance is spread across multiple Government Departments including the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. Both departments run separate committees such as the Committee of Animal Welfare (Department of Agriculture) and the National Committee on Wildlife Management (Department of Environment and Natural Resources); however, there is no suggestion that these two committees work together to ensure animal welfare protections for all animals under their jurisdictions.
Since the previous edition of the API in 2014, there has been little change in Philippine Law to further protect animals. In fact, many of the supporting Administrative Orders supporting animal welfare legislation are more than a decade old.
The Government of the Philippines is recommended to align all animal welfare legislation and jurisdictions under one government department with enough resources for education, enforcement and to continue to improve animal welfare. The Government is also recommended to revise and reassess all Administrative Orders that impact animal welfare to ensure they are aligned with modern OIE standards and current scientific thinking. Furthermore, the Government of the Philippines is strongly encouraged to ban cruel practices such as fur farming, keeping wild animals as pets and long-distance transport of animals. Further legal and policy recommendations are associated with each Animal Protection Index (API) indicator and contained in the relevant sections of this report.
