Speaker's shark preservation bill gets OK

Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s bill that calls for the preservation of sharks in the country and provides for their regulation was approved on third and final reading on Monday. A total of 174 lawmakers voted to approve House Bill 8926 (Shark Conservation Act) regulating the catching, sale, purchase, possession, transportation, importation and exportation of all sharks, rays and chimaeras in the country. The congresswoman from Pampanga said the measure aims to address the extinction of marine wildlife and achieve a balance between human needs and the integrity of the Philippine marine ecosystem.