MANILA (UPDATED) — Photos of former Ilocos Sur Governor Luis “Chavit” Singson with a lion he shot dead during a hunting expedition in South Africa are drawing flak online.
The photos, which were initially published in June on the website of the Philippine Times of Southern Nevada, show Singson posing beside a male lion and an antelope that he shot at the Kalahari Desert as he celebrated his birthday.
A screenshot of the Philippine Times of Southern Nevada online newspaper featuring Ilocos Sur Gov. Chavit Singson’s safari tour.According to the report, Singson went to the Kalahari Desert, which extends 900,000 square kilometers and covers much of Botswana and parts of Namibia and South Africa, to hunt wild animals.
Singson, like all other hunters, waited for about a year to get his shooting license, it said.
“His hunting rifle took down a male lion and an antelope, highly valued targets. Needless to say, he couldn’t be happier. His feats were celebrated in his birthday bash in Spear Safari, also in the savannah. An image of his prized catch is printed onto his cake, making the celebration go down in history as one of the most memorable,” the report said.
On micro-blogging site Twitter, some netizens reacted negatively to the photos.
I believe hunting is not a sport! Mr. Chavit Singson i know you have a license but this breaks my heart! #PETA pic.twitter.com/V5FKfMPA1g
— Meil Aguana (@iamsoMeily) November 21, 2013
Shame on you Chavit Singson! Animal cruelty! https://t.co/rxj6eCQpkO
— JEC(???) (@jec_in_tokyo) November 21, 2013
Meanwhile, an online petition at Change.org is asking Singson and his family to stop hunting wild ducks.
The petition, which has so far garnered over 600 signatures, started after photos of Singson and his daughter, Richelle, hunting wild ducks in Ilocos Sur went viral online early this month.
The Wild Bird Club of the Philippines said the Singsons have “shown a blatant disregard for our country’s wildlife laws and the welfare of our wildlife by advocating the hunting of protected species and posting photos of their father-daughter hunting spree on Facebook and Instagram.”
“We ask former Gov. Chavit Singson and his daughter Richelle Singson to stop promoting, advocating, and practicing hunting of Philippine wildlife. We hope they will instead promote the protection and conservation of wildlife and their habitat,” the group said.
ABS-CBN News Channel tried to contact the former governor to get his reaction but he has not been answering the calls.
Exposing the Big Game 
May he have no more birthdays to “celebrate”…..
Aye.
Isn’t it shocking that these trophy hunters are so absolutely thrilled about killing an animal, and find so much need to celebrate it?
I wonder how he’d react if someone murdered his family for sport..and took a pic by his murdered wife or child? I bet he’d be very upset…so why does he feel he has the right to destroy other families? he’s a piece of shit…his entire family is…
Because they’re selfish, murderous, entitled-feeling voids.
You could almost understand celebrating the killing of an animal from ancient times, when the reason was solely for food and survival. But today? There’s nothing left but a vestige killer instinct. And combined with greed and narcissism, it’s a bad combination for the rest of the planet’s life.