By Evangeline B. Garcia, Teacher III, Bongabon NHS

I roam around the forest. I seek to find food for my family. I enjoy walking under the shades of
the trees. I seize every day I get the chance to explore the world.
But everything changed when one cloudy day, while I was seeking for food, a man covered in
black clothes while holding a pointed and deadly weapon, captured my friend. I then ran for my
life and to save others.
What is happening to us?
Many animals of specific species are already endangered, some are just starting while some are
at the peak of being endangered. Animals become endangered when there are threats from
predators or the change of environment. People chase and catch animals for their living. They
catch animals, put them to cage and kill those animals who deserve to live and enjoy the world
without the fear of not having the chance of an another tomorrow.
Why are they doing this?
Greedy people catch animals to sell them at a high price to provide food and money. Some kill
the animals and gather some body parts to use and manufacture a new product while some
unconsciously gets or makes an animal endangered when their habitats get destroyed. They kill
animals in order to survive, to provide the needs of their family.
Who can be the victims of this?
Every single animal is a potential victim. Aged, newborn, everyone. Even those young and
innocent ones die without even having the chance to explore the world. Animals become
endangered for the producers to live and the consumers to be satisfied. An example of
endangered spcies is the Philippine Eagle which became endangered because of deforestation,
because some people are seeking for natural resources from the forest, the loss of Eagle’s habitat
became the outcome. Another one is the elephant. Some people kill elephants to get their ivory
tusks which can be used in producing billiard balls. Those are the few examples.
Who can possibly help us?
The senate and government are implementing laws to protect the animals from becoming
endangered. The Wildlife Resources Conservation and Protection Act. (Republic Act No. 9147)
provides conservation and protection of wildlife resources and their habitats. This is one of the
laws the Senate has implemented for the protection of the animals. But then, we, humans, should
work with the people who implemented this. We should not just rely on the laws, thus, we should
also be responsible and aware of the animals that can possibly become a victim or have a threat
of becoming endagered. Spreading awareness of protecting the animals may help. We should
keep in our minds that as much as we want to provide the needs of our family especially the
money and food, we should also remember the sake of the lives getting sacrificed. They die for
us to live. That isn’t fair. They also have lives to live to the fullest. They should also have the
right to enjoy living like us. They are also struggling to live. They may not be the same species
as ours but they also deserve to live. They live to enjoy the world and embrace living and not to
provide living for humans.
I hope I could still roam around the forest. I hope I could still seek to find food for my family. I
hope I can still enjoy walking under the shades of the trees without the fear of being caught. I
seize my today for my chance of tomorrow is impossible for me. I hope I, we, could have the
freedom to live fearlessly and freely again.