DENR operations yield illegal-logging tools, woodTags: philippines enforcement illegal operations government agencies
Philippines - The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) seized six heavy-duty Stihl chain saws and 6,872 board feet of lumber and flitches during a string of anti-illegal logging operations in Infanta, Quezon, and Tanay, Rizal, early this month.
DENR Secretary Lito Atienza, who presented the seized chainsaws to the media at the DENR grounds in Quezon City, said the confiscation of the chainsaws bolstered their suspicion that illegal logging is on the rise with the onset of the summer season in the two provinces.
"The seizures confirmed our suspicion that illegal logging is on the upswing with the onset of the summer season. If left unabated, this will ruin further our already ravaged forests. Thats why we are stepping up our forest-protection efforts by strengthening our partnership with other law-enforcement agencies of the government, such as the Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces of the Philippines, as well as nongovernment organizations and other sectors," Atienza said.
Atienza disclosed that the operatives of DENRs Environmental Law Enforcement Task Force (ELETF) were backed up by elements from the Naval Intelligence Special Forces of the Philippine Navy and the 1st and 16th Infantry Batallions of the Philippine Army based in Infanta, Quezon, and Tanay, Rizal, respectively.
Initial reports showed that the chain saws were not registered with the local DENR offices in Infanta and Tanay, which is in violation of Republic Act (RA) 9175, or the Chain Saw Act of 2002, which regulates the ownership and use of chain saws in the country.
These chain saws are on the high-end of the market and only big-time financiers taking advantage of our poor upland farmers can afford to provide them with these expensive equipment, Atienza said, as he cited that job opportunities in uplands are now being opened up by the government through the Green Collar Jobs program meant to precisely give upland dwellers a better alternative livelihood instead of allowing themselves to be exploited by financers of illegal-logging operations.
A brand-new chain saw costs as much as P40,000, while a secondhand one costs about P18,000.
The ELETF operation in sitio Alas-asin, barangay Daraitan in Tanay, Rizal, led to the apprehension of four stihl chain saws and a passenger jeepney loaded with 101 pieces of lumber, with a total volume of 1,342 board feet, and 30 pieces of flitches equivalent to 1,095 board feet.
Another operation of ELEFT at sitio Manggahan in the same barangay netted a chain saw and 54 pieces of lumber equivalent to 860 board feet.
In Infanta, Quezon, an Izusu Elf truck with license plate UUC-320 was apprehended in the operation on March 4, in barangay Magsaysay, including one stilh chain saw and 247 pieces of abandoned lumber with a volume of 3,573 board feet.
The apprehended vehicles and all the forest products seized in the three-day operation are now stockpiled at the DENR office in Antipolo City for safekeeping pending further investigation.
11/03/2009
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