There is a commercial center here that sells exotic animals like snakes, rare birds and even insects like scorpions and spiders. There is a law against selling those animals but obviously the commercial center is protected by the authorities. Aside from live animals, there is a store that sells stuffed animals and dried mostly used for medicinal purposes like dried sea turtle and pangolin, the endangered specie of ant eater.
On a brighter note, one trafficker of banned animals was caught red-handed when his house in Cavite - just 20 kilometers from Manila - was raided by the cops. It yielded countless of exotic birds and albino snakes of all sizes. And although the guy denied the allegation, the raid was documented by media so there's no loophole for the trafficker to escape the case. The Department of Environment and Natural Resources official said that those animals are banned because they are endangered.
