Slovakian scholars nabbed in Palawan

Slovakian scholars nabbed in Palawan

PUERTO PRINCESA, Philippines (AFP): Four Slovakian scientists were arrested here on Friday for attempting to smuggle out rare insects from the western Philippine province of Palawan, environment officials said.

The researchers from the zoology department of the Slovak Academy of Sciences in Bratislava were caught before boarding a commercial flight from the Palawan capital of Puerto Princesa to Manila, the Department of Environment Natural Resources said in a statement.

Environment officials said the four will be charged with violating a presidential decree banning the taking of rare species of plants and animals from the province, one of the Philippines' last marine and wildlife sanctuaries.

They are expected to be ordered to pay ten times that value of the species caught in their possession, deported and blacklisted from returning to the Philippines.