ILLEGAL LOGS. The Department of Environment and Natural Resources 13 (Caraga) has intensified its campaign against illegal logging in the past 15 days of October. This resulted in the confiscation of 7,846.6 board feet of illegally-sawn lumber products. (Photo courtesy of DENR-Caraga Information Office)
BUTUAN CITY – Intensified operations conducted by joint forces of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) 13 (Caraga), the Philippine National Police (PNP), and the 4th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army have resulted in the confiscation of illegally-sawn lumber and products.
Herzon Gallego of the Information Office of DENR-13 told the Philippine News Agency (PNA) on Wednesday that the heightened operations were conducted during the first 15 days of the month in compliance with the instructions of DENR-13 Executive Director, lawyer Felix S. Alicer.
Gallego said authorities were able to confiscate illegally-sawn lumber products, round logs, and sacks of tanbarks from mangroves in the provinces of Agusan del Sur, Agusan del Norte, and Surigao del Norte.
He said the Community Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) in Bunawan, Agusan del Sur, managed to confiscate a total of 6,095 board feet or 556 pieces of illegal logs during the duration of the intensified operations.
Confiscated were Lauan, Toog, and Saguimsim lumber. The operatives also retrieved 55 pieces or 14.72 cubic meters of round Lauan and Ulagan wood, as well as miscellaneous species of lumber.
Meanwhile, the CENRO Task Force in Surigao City confiscated a total of 6,020 kg. of tanbarks from mangroves packed in 602 jute sacks and loaded in two wing van trucks at the Lipata Port in Surigao.
Gallego told PNA that the sacks of tanbarks of mangroves were illegally collected from Surigao del Sur and Surigao del Norte and were about to be transported to the Visayas.
Illegal loggers cut mangroves for charcoal making while the barks are sold to buyers, he said.
“These illegal activities will eventually destroy our mangroves and marine resources in the area. Director Alicer has ordered our CENROs to apprehend persons involved in the destruction of our mangroves,” he added.
In a separate operation over the same period, operatives of CENRO in Tubay, Agusan del Norte were able to confiscate 1,753.6 board feet of illegal lumber products in a remote barangay in Puting Bato in Cabadbaran City.
The latest apprehension took place on Tuesday where PHP100,000 worth of furniture made of Magkuno wood were confiscated by CENRO in Nasipit, Agusan del Norte, Gallego said. (PNA)
