HOT LOGS. Some PHP118,000 worth of illegally-gathered forest products were seized by the joint operatives of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and Police Regional Office in Caraga Region. The operations were conducted in the first week of July 2020 in the Agusan del Norte towns of Santiago, Jabonga, and Kitcharao. (Photo courtesy of DENR-13 Info Office)
BUTUAN CITY – Police and personnel of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in Caraga Region (DENR-13) have seized some PHP118,000 worth of illegal forest products in series of operations conducted in the first five days of the month.
In a statement Monday (July 6), Maj. Renel Serrano, Police Regional Office-13 information officer, said a raid on an illegal sawmill in Barangay Tagbuyacan, Santiago town, Agusan del Norte, was conducted on July 4, 2020 resulting in the confiscation of 24 logs, and 710 pieces of wood flitches.
Serrano said the seized illegal lumber products consisted of "anangilan, bakan and bay-ang" species with an estimated market value of PHP45,000.
Authorities also arrested during the operation Bernardo P. Salvaria, 67, the alleged owner of the sawmill.
Serrano said authorities also confiscated from the sawmill a number of assorted equipment worth PHP35,000.
“During the raid, Salvaria failed to show to authorities the required documents to prove the legality of his sawmill operation,” he said.
Brig. Gen. Joselito Esquivel Jr., PRO-13 director, lauded the efforts of the police and DENR personnel in Agusan del Norte.
“The police force in Caraga Region is stepping up its campaign to go after and arrest those persons involved in illegal logging activities amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic,” Esquivel said.
Esquivel said Salvaria will be charged for violating Republic Act 460 that regulates the operation of sawmills in the country, and Presidential Decree No. 705, or the Revised Forestry Code of the Philippines.
In a separate interview on Monday, DENR-13 Information Officer Heron Gallego told the Philippine News Agency that two more operations conducted by DENR early this month in Jabonga, Agusan del Norte, resulted in the confiscation of 160 pieces of "angilan and bakan" species of lumber worth PHP4,900.
Gallego said the DENR was still trying to determine the owner of the sawmill.
“The owners of these illegal sawmills in Barangay Tagbuyacan, Santiago and Bangonay in Jabonga are engaged in buying illegally-gathered forest products and lumber from government timberlands,” he said.
Gallego added that the police and DENR personnel in the Agusan del Norte town of Tubay confiscated 775 pieces of illegally-cut lumber in an upland village in Kitcharao.
The confiscated lumber products consisted of "lauan, bagras, baying and ulayan" with a total market value of PHP69,000, he said.
Gallego said the continued anti-illegal logging operations in Agusan del Norte and the rest of the provinces of Caraga Region are among the top priorities of Executive Director Didaw Piang-Brahim, the newly-designated officer-in-charge of DENR-13.
He also commended the support of the PNP in the drive against illegal logging activities in the region, as well as the support of residents who provided vital information to DENR field offices. (PNA)
