PICOP timber concession in peril

BISLIG, Surigao del Sur – The expansion project of PICOP Resources Inc. here once tagged as Asia’s largest paper mill is in danger after the Department of Environment and Natural Resources called for a thorough evaluation of its capability to protect its 182,760 hectares of its timber concession area.

DENR Regional Executive Director Benjamen Tumaliuan of Caraga Region told The STAR, PICOP has applied for conversion of its Timber License Agreement (TLA) No. 43 with an area of 78,645 hectares which is due to expire on April 26 this year but such application may be derailed due to the company’s inability to protect its forest.

Tumaliuan said police records and investigation show most of the people involved in timber poaching in areas under PICOP were former workers of the paper firm whose fringe benefits owed to them by the company remained unpaid up to this date.

DENR field personnel substantiated the police probe results saying the log thieves are exacting vengeance to get even with PICOP.

Over the years, PICOP had been constantly bothered with problems on timber poaching and smuggling allegedly perpetuated by a hostile community surrounding the firm’s extensive tree plantations.

PICOP officials admitted during consultation meetings that the firm’s forest guards are not enough to protect its huge plantation area.

The local government unit of Bislig City once even questioned during a dialogue PICOP’s capability to protect the plantation within the city’s vicinity.

DENR officials claimed that under Timber and License Agreement terms and conditions, PICOP should protect the leased area from destruction and log smuggling.

"But it is quite disturbing that PICOP officials are quick to point its accusing fingers to DENR on illegal logging operations inside their concession area," says Tumaliuan.

PICOP used to have a labor force of 12,000 workers when it still held the title as ‘the biggest in Asia’ but management crisis plaguing the firm forced it to trim down its employees to only 2,000 to date.

Out of this total, however, only 370 personnel or lower were assigned to forest protection.

DENR authorities expressed doubts that the paper firm can effectively protect the entire 182,760-hectare plantation area with such limited number of forest guards.

"To this we require PICOP to increase its forest guards who have possessed loyalty and utmost dedication not bantay kalikasan," says Tumaliuan.

On the other hand, Tumaliuan has ordered an investigation of the report about a buying station of pulpwoods in Barangay Wakat, Barobo, Surigao del Sur owned by a certain Hudson Chua allegedly buying raw materials from illegal sources.

Tumaliuan, at the same time, hit a fictitious and non-existent organization named Citizen’s Log Watch for pinpointing him as the one who expeditiously approved operation of the buying station in Wakat upon instruction of DENR Secretary Heherson T. Alvarez.

Tumaliuan claimed that the report of the fictitious group, Citizen Log Watch which was published in a national daily was absurd and has no basis at all.

He said, a series of checkpoints by the PNP, Army, LGU and the DENR to monitor movement of the forest products would be impossible for illegal timber traders to transport their products without being detected or caught.

According to Tumaliuan, although the authority to approve operation of a buying station lies in the hands of the Provincial Environment and Resources Officer concern there was no record available at the DENR in approving operation of a buying station in Wakat.

He expressed regret that PICOP is being used by the fictitious Citizen’s Log Watch to discredit the DENR.