Personnel of the Palawan Council for Sustainable Development Staff have detained a Chinese national and a Filipino for allegedly operating an unlicensed lobster farm in a coastal area in Puerto Princesa City.

Jovic Fabello, spokesperson for the special body, said on Friday that they detained the pair on 4 March after they failed to provide documents and permits that would show their operation of the lobster farm in the waters off Barangay Sta. Cruz is legal.

Fabello did not provide the name of the Chinese national pending verification if he is documented.

"We cannot give the name yet because we are verifying if he is documented," he said.

The operation was conducted a day after the celebration of World Wildlife Day, in collaboration with the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG).

He said that during their team's inspection, approximately 1,500 pieces of tiger lobster or banagan (Panulirus ornatus), a valuable marine resource, were confiscated.

They also found that the farm's structure was built using an estimated 20,000 board feet of endangered Apitong (Dipterocarpus grandiflorus) timber, valued at about ₱29 million, according to the assessment of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Community Environment and Natural Resources Office (DENR-CENRO) Puerto Princesa.

The Chinese national and his Filipino counterpart were charged with illegal possession of wildlife under Section 27, Paragraph F of Republic Act 9147, and with illegal cutting, gathering, and collecting of timber under Section 77 of Presidential Decree 705.