Gecko den in flying school?

MANILA, Philippines - The Civil Aviation Training Center (CATC) compound in Parañaque City is home to at least five geckos, locally known as “tuko” and two of their eggs.

CATC director and Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) assistant director general retired Air Force Col. Andres “Andoy” Laurilla admitted that he is keeping the geckos in a medium sized aquarium in one of the rooms of the CATC airport laboratory at the basement of the CATC headquarters, so he could supervise their feeding and ensure their safety.

“I decided to bring it here so I can personally watch over their care and feeding. What do they want me to do, just release them in the wild and let them die?” Laurilla said.

He said he bought the geckos as a gift to his grandson last April, but the latter got tired of it.

The security guards of the CATC are said to be taking turns in looking after the geckos. Employees, however, are worried that the geckos are being kept in their place of work, even though the collection and trading of geckos is not allowed without the permission of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

But Laurilla said that as far as he knew, the collection of geckos is only prohibited if it will be more than 10. “I’m not trading them,” he added.

He said he will also turn over the geckos to the DENR if necessary.

“If they will confiscate them, that’s no problem,” he said.