Crackdown vs. illegal logging nets P12.5M

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO—A crackdown on illegal logging activities that began early part of this year yielded 1,000 cubic meters of assorted forest products worth at least P12.5 million, authorities from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) here announced recently.

The confiscations came in the wake of renewed calls to end illegal logging operations in identified environmental hotspots in the region, explained executive director Ricardo Calderon of the regional DENR office in Central Luzon.

He said 16 illegal loggers were jailed since 2005 while 67 others have been charged for violating forestry laws in various local courts in the region.

Section 68 of P.D. 705 states that any person who shall cut, collect, gather or remove timber or other forest products from any forest land, or timber from alienable or disposable public land or from private land without any authority, or possess timber or other forest products without legal documents, shall be punished for the crime of theft with penalties imposed under Articles 309 and 310 of the Revised Penal Code.

Under the Revised Penal Code, an illegal logger faces a minimum sentence of two years imprisonment and up to a maximum jail term of 20 years for seized forest products worth more than P22,000.
As this developed, at least 200 forest protection officers and rangers have been mobilized to maintain a strong presence in “hotspot” areas while 16 DENR checkpoints have been placed on red alert to monitor and intercept the movement of contraband forest products, especially those coming from the Sierra Madre mountains of Nueva Vizcaya, Quirino, and Quezon provinces.

“Most contraband forest products coming from the Eastern Pacific Seaboard find outlet in Aurora, Nueva Ecija, and Bulacan before reaching their final destination in Metro Manila,” Calderon explained.

He said the strategic location of DENR checkpoints in these areas places them in the best position to strike a major blow in the operations of illegal logging syndicates.

“We are closely coordinating with army operatives from the 7th Infantry Division of the Philippine Army based in Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija under Brig. Gen. Irineo Espino and the regional police under Chief Superintendent Arturo Cacdac at Camp Olivas in Pampanga,” he said.

DENR Secretary Ramon Paje earlier ordered a 30-day anti-illegal logging campaign to neutralize illegal logging hotspots and tighten the noose on lumber dealers that buy and sell illegally sourced lumber.