Thousands of elephants are butchered every year for their ivory tusks that are carved into religious objects, including the most-prized Sto. Ni\u00f1o (icon of Jesus Christ as a boy) in the Philippines, a National Geographic investigation of the direct link between religion and ivory smuggling shows.
\nThe country has become one of the destinations of the illegal ivory trade mainly because Filipinos are fond of religious statues made only of the finest materials, said the cover story of the magazine\u2019s October issue titled \u201cIvory worship.\u201d It was written by Bryan Christy, who visited the country five times for the story.
\nChristy went to Cebu and met one of the best known ivory collectors in the country, Msgr. Cristobal Garcia. He is \u201cthe leader of a group of prominent Sto. Ni\u00f1o collectors who display their icons during the Feast of the Sto. Ni\u00f1o in some of [the province\u2019s] best shopping malls and hotels,\u201d the report said.
\n\u201cHis anteroom is a mini-museum dominated by large, glass-encased religious figures whose heads and hands are made of ivory: There is an ivory Our Lady of the Rosary holding an ivory Jesus in one, a near-life-size ivory Mother of the Good Shepherd seated beside an ivory Jesus in another. Next to Garcia\u2019s desk a solid ivory Christ hangs on a cross,\u201d it said.
\nHeirlooms
\nThey are not just investments but heirlooms as well, said the NatGeo report.
\n\u201cMany believe that what you invest in devotion to your own icon determines what blessings you will receive in return. For some, then, a fiberglass or wooden icon is not enough. For them, the material of choice is elephant ivory,\u201d it added.
\nFor a Third World country where most people are living below poverty line, some may see this devotion as lavish but for others, it is \u201can offering to God.\u201d
\n\u201cThe elaborate displays [of Sto. Ni\u00f1o] are often owned by families of surprisingly modest means. Devotees have opened bankbooks in the names of their ivory icons. They name them in their wills,\u201d it said.
\nChrist himself
\nThe report said some Filipinos believed that the Sto. Ni\u00f1o de Cebu (Holy Child of Cebu) was Christ himself. It noted that 16th century Spaniards \u201cdeclared the icon to be miraculous and used it to convert the nation, making this wooden statue, housed today behind bulletproof glass in Cebu\u2019s Basilica Minore de Sto. Ni\u00f1o, the root from which all Filipino Catholicism has grown.\u201d The Sto. Ni\u00f1o is believed to be a replica of the icon devotees believe Ferdinand Magellan brought to Cebu in 1521.
\n\u201cI don\u2019t call it extravagant,\u201d said Fr. Vicente Lina Jr. (Father Jay), director of the Diocesan Museum of Malolos and curator of his archdiocese\u2019s annual Sto. Ni\u00f1o exhibit). \u201c\u2018I call it an offering to God.\u2019 He surveys the child images, some of which are decorated in \u2018lagang,\u2019 silvery mother of pearl flowers carved from nautilus shells,\u201d said in the report.
\nCrooked line
\n\u201cWhen it comes to Sto. Ni\u00f1o devotion too much is not enough. As a priest, I\u2019ve been praying, \u2018If all of this stuff is plain stupid, then God, put a stop to this,\u2019\u201d Father Jay was quoted as saying in the report.
\nHe went as far as saying that the ivory used for the statues were smuggled but for him, \u201cit is like straightening up a crooked line.\u201d
\n\u201cFather Jay points to a Sto. Ni\u00f1o holding a dove. \u2018Most of the old ivories are heirlooms,\u2019\u201d Lina said. \u201c\u2018The new ones are from Africa. They come in through the back door,\u2019\u201d he was quoted as saying.
\n\u201c\u2018It\u2019s like straightening up a crooked line: You buy the ivory, which came from a hazy origin, and you turn it into a spiritual item. See?\u201d Lina said, with a giggle. \u201cHis voice lowers to a whisper. \u2018Because it\u2019s like buying a stolen item,\u2019\u201d the report said.
\nInt\u2019l embarrassment
\n\u201cIf this allegation is true, this illegal wildlife trade would be an international embarrassment for the Philippines and the Filipinos. This must stop,\u201d said Antonio Oposa Jr., an environmentalist lawyer.
\nOposa said his group was studying other possible legal actions it may take.
\n\u201c[If these were true,] we see violations of the CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora), Wildlife Conservation Act, Anti-Fencing Law, Customs Code and others,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Probe
\nWithout judging before hearing, Oposa said his group had asked the Department of Justice, National Bureau of Investigation and Department of Environment and Natural Resources to investigate the people responsible for the illegal trade in the country.
\n\u201cWe have also asked the Interpol to conduct an investigation on the people behind this illegal wildlife syndicate,\u201d he said.
\n\u201cIt has long been known in the international circles that the Philippines is a source, a buyer and a conduit in the illegal wildlife trade. This must stop,\u201d Oposa added.
\nChristy said he met with Garcia to understand the country\u2019s ivory trade and to get a lead on who were behind 5.4 tons of illegal ivory and 7.7 tons that customs agents seized in Manila in 2009 and 2005, respectively, and 6.1 tons bound for the Philippines seized by Taiwanese authorities in 2006. He said the seizures represented 1,745 elephants assuming an average of 10 kg of ivory per elephant.
\nNew ivory gets into the country from Africa through Muslims from Mindanao by bribing authorities along the way, according to Lina.
\n\u201cAnd you just keep on paying so many people so that it will enter your country,\u201d Lina told Christy.
\nTips on smuggling
\nIn the report, Garcia told Christy how he could smuggle an ivory Sto. Ni\u00f1o into the United States.
\n\u201c\u2018Wrap it in old, stinky underwear and pour ketchup on it \u2026 so it looks shitty with blood. This is how it is done,\u201d\u2019 Garcia told Christy.
\n\u201cGarcia gave me the names of his favorite ivory carvers, all in Manila, along with advice on whom to go to for high volume, whose wife overcharges, who doesn\u2019t meet deadlines. He gave me phone numbers and locations,\u201d Christy said.
\n\u201cIf I wanted to smuggle an icon that was too large to hide in my suitcase, I might get a certificate from the National Museum of the Philippines declaring my image to be antique, or I could get a carver to issue a paper declaring it to be imitation or alter the carving date to before the ivory ban. Whatever I decided to commission, Garcia promised to bless it for me,\u201d the NatGeo writer said of Garcia\u2019s advice to him.
\nChristy said in the report that \u201ca few families control most of the ivory carving in Manila, moving like termites through massive quantities of tusks. Two of the main dealers are based in the city\u2019s religious-supplies district, Tayuman. During my five trips to the Philippines I visited every one of the ivory shops Garcia recommended to me and more, inquiring about buying ivory.\u201d
\n\u201cMore than once I was asked if I was a priest. In almost every shop someone proposed a way I could smuggle ivory to the US. One offered to paint my ivory with removable brown watercolor to resemble wood; another to make identical hand-painted statuettes out of resin to camouflage my ivory baby Jesus. If I was caught, I was told to lie and say \u2018resin\u2019 to US Customs. During one visit a dealer said Monsignor Garcia had just called and suggested that since I\u2019d mentioned that my family had a funeral business, I might take her new, 20-pound Sto. Ni\u00f1o home by hiding it in the bottom of a casket. I said he must have been joking, but she didn\u2019t think so,\u201d Christy said.
\nOn sick leave
\nThe Philippine Daily Inquirer repeatedly called Garcia through his two mobile phones on Monday afternoon but there was no answer. It was learned that the monsignor was on sick leave and was in Manila.
\nChristy said the Philippines\u2019 ivory market was small compared with, say, China\u2019s, but it is centuries old and staggeringly obvious.
\n\u201cCollectors and dealers share photographs of their ivories on Flickr and Facebook. CITES, as administrator of the 1989 global ivory ban, is the world\u2019s official organization standing between the slaughter of the 1980s\u2014in which Africa is said to have lost half its elephants, more than 600,000 in just those 10 years\u2014and the extermination of the elephant. If CITES has overlooked the Philippines\u2019 ivory trade, what else has it missed?\u201d Christy said.<\/p>\n