Section 18Sec./Art. 18

Section 20 of Republic Act No. 7586 is hereby amended to read as follows:

"Sec. 20. Prohibited Acts. - Except as may be allowed by the nature of their categories and pursuant to rules and regulations governing the same, the following acts are prohibited within protected areas:

"(a) Poaching, killing, destroying, disturbing of any wildlife including in private lands within the protected area;

"(b) Hunting, taking, collecting, or possessing of any wildlife, or by-products derived therefrom, including in private lands within the protected area without the necessary permit, authorization or exemption: Provided, That the PASU as authorization or exemption only for culling, scientific research , the exemptions provided under Section 27(a) of Republic Act No. 9147 (Wildlife Resources, Conservation and Protection Act) or harvests of nonprotected species in multiple-use zones by tenured migrants and IPs;

"(c) Cutting, gathering, removing or collecting timber within the protected area including provate lands therein, without the necessary permit, authorization, certification of planted trees or exemption such acts are done in accordance with the duly recognized practices of the IPs/ICCs for subsistence puposes;

"(d) Possessing or transporting outside the protected area any timber, forest products, wildlife, or by-products derived therefrom which are ascertained to have been taken from the protected area other that exotic species, the culling of which has been authorized under an appropriate permit;

"(e) Using any fishing or harvesting gear and practices or any of their variations that destroys coral reefs, seagrass beds or other marine life and their associated habitats or terrestrial habitat as may be determined by the DA or the DENR; Provided, That mere possession of such gears within the protected areas shall be prima facie evidence of their use;

"(f) Dumping, throwing, using, or causing to be dumped into or places in the protected area of any toxic chemical, noxious or poisonous substance or nonbiodegradable material, untreated sewage or animal waste or products whether in liquid, solid or gas state, including pesticides and other hazardous substances as defined under Republic Act No. 6969, otherwise known as the "Toxic Substances and Hazardous and Nuclear Waste Control Act of 1990' detrimental to the protected area, or to the plants and animals or inhabitants therein;

"(g) Operating any motorized conveyance within the protected area without permit from the PAMB, except when the use of such motorized conveyance is the only practical means of transportation of IPs/ICCs in accessing their ancestral domain/land;

"(h) Altering, removing, destroying or defacing boundary marks or signs;

"(i) Engaging in 'kaingin' or, any manner, causing forest fires inside the protected area;

"(j) Mutilating, defacing, destroying, excavating, vandalizing or, in any manner damaging any natural formation, religious, spiritual, historical sites, artifacts and other objects of natural beauty, scenic value or objects of interest to IPs/ICCs;

"(k) Damaging and leaving roads and trails in damaged condition;

"(l) Littering or depositing refuse or debris on the ground or in bodies of water;

"(m) Possessing or using blasting caps or explosives anywhere within the protected area;

"(n) Occupying or dwelling in any public land within the protected area without clearance from the PAMB;

"(o) Constructing, erecting, or maintaining any kind of structure, fence or enclosure, conducting any business enterprise within the protected area without prior clearance from the PAMB and permit from the DENR, or conducting these activities in a manner that is inconsistent with the management plan duly approved by the PAMB;

"(p) Undertaking mineral exploration or extraction within the protected area;

"(q) Engaging in commercial or large-scale qaurrying within the protected area;

"(r) Establishing or introducing exotic species, including GMOs or invasive alien species within the protected area;

"(s) Conducting bioprospecting within the protected area without prior PAMB clearance in accordance with existing guidelines: Provided, That in addition to the penalty provided herein, any commercial use of any substance derived from nonpermitted bioprospecting within a protected area will not be allowed and all revenue earned from illegal commercialization thereof shall be forfeited and deposited as part of the I{AF;

"(t) Prospecting, hunting or otherwise locating hidden treasure within the protected area;

"(u) Purchasing or selling, mortgaging or leasing lands or other portions of the protected area which are covered by any tenurial instrument; and

"(v) Constructing any permanent structure within the forty (40)-meter easement from the high water mark of any natural body of water or issuing a permit for such construction pursuant to Article 51 of Presidential Decree No. 1067: Provided, That construction for common usage wharves and shoreline protection shall be permitted by the PAMB only after thorough EIA."