Question & AnswerQ&A (Act No. 3983)
The primary purpose of Act No. 3983 is to protect wild flowers and plants in the Philippine Islands and to regulate the conditions under which they may be collected, kept, sold, exported, and for other related purposes.
Without proper authorization, it is unlawful to take, collect, kill, mutilate, possess, purchase, offer or expose for sale, transport, ship, or export any protected flowering plant, fern, orchid, lycopod or club moss, or other wild plants in the Philippines.
The Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources is responsible for issuing and promulgating regulations specifying the classes or species of protected rare and flowering plants and the conditions governing their collection, possession, transportation, sale, and export.
The Secretary is empowered to issue licenses for the collection, possession, transportation, sale, or export of protected wild plants, specifying the number and kind of plants and the conditions for their keeping or disposal. The Secretary may also issue special permits for very rare specimens.
Yes, the Secretary may grant free permits to persons of good repute and legal age to collect specimens of protected plants for scientific or educational purposes, valid for one year and subject to conditions deemed appropriate by the Secretary.
Licenses or permits may only be granted to citizens of the Philippine Islands or the United States, or to associations or corporations duly registered or incorporated under the Philippines or U.S. laws with at least 61% capital stock owned by such citizens, or citizens of countries granting similar rights to Philippine citizens.
Violators are subject for each offense to a fine of not less than ten pesos nor more than two hundred pesos, or imprisonment for up to thirty days, or both fine and imprisonment at the court's discretion. Collected plants in violation shall be forfeited to the Government.
Yes, making any false statement on the application for a collecting license or permit results in forfeiture of the license or permit and subjects the offender to penalties prescribed by the Act.
Yes, the taking, collection, destruction, or mutilation of protected plants such as orchids, ferns, and lycopods is prohibited within 100 meters of any public highway or trail, except for landowners or their duly authorized agents on their property.
Members of the Philippine Constabulary, municipal police, Bureau of Forestry personnel, Bureau of Science botanists and scientists, Bureau of Lands inspectors and attorneys, Bureau of Plant Industry agronomists and inspectors, and other competent persons designated by the Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources are appointed as deputy wardens with authority to enforce the Act and arrest offenders.