SEIZED. Police and environment officials inspect the forest products believed to be illegally cut and abandoned on Thursday (Sept. 16, 2021) in Parang, Maguindanao. A total log ban has been implemented in all areas under BARMM, which includes Maguindanao, since 2015. (Photo courtesy of Maguindanao MENRE Office)
PARANG, Maguindanao – Environment officials and the local police confiscated here on Thursday some 500 board feet of suspected illegally cut lumber.
The forest products were left unattended in Sitio Bliss, Barangay Nituan, Parang, Maguindanao.
“The lumber products were undocumented and abandoned, an indication these were illegally cut,” Forester Noroden Abdullah, community environment and natural resources and energy officer, said in an interview Friday.
He said members of the Maguindanao Provincial Anti-Illegal Logging Task Force responded to a report from civilians about the stockpile of abandoned illegally-cut forest products composed of naturally grown white and red Lauan species.
Abdulla said the seized forest products are now in the custody of the municipal police station for temporary safekeeping.
“The owner, once identified and arrested, will face charges for violation of Presidential Decree 705 otherwise known as the revised forestry code of the Philippines,” he said.
A total log ban has been in effect in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao since 2015. (PNA)
