House okays bill imposing life imprisonment on illegal loggers

MANILA, Philippines - The House of Representatives has approved on third and final reading a bill seeking the imposition of life imprisonment on illegal loggers.

Under the proposed Sustainable Forest Management Act, harvesting, gathering or collecting timber or other forest products from any forestland with a market value of more than P500,000 and without authority from the Secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) would be illegal and punishable with life imprisonment.

Those who buy logs, flitches and lumber from illegal loggers will also suffer the same penalty.

Cagayan de Oro City Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, principal author of the proposed law, said he hoped that with such a heavy penalty on offenders, the destruction of watersheds and other forested areas and the resulting flooding of low-lying communities will be minimized.

In a related development, Rodriguez and his brother Maximo, who represents the party-list group Abante Mindanao, filed on Monday Bill 5663, which seeks the appropriation of P2 billion for the rebuilding of Cagayan de Oro City and Iligan City after these were devastated by tropical storm “Sendong” recently.

In filing the bill, the two said residents of the two cities need state help “to be able to recover from the recent tragedy and start a new life.”

“In the short term, there is a need to provide basic necessities to the evacuees including food and non-food items and a way to give them access to proper hygiene. Also, debris cleanup is a priority as well as provisions for temporary shelter before school and classes resume,” they said.

“From there, there is a need to conduct an in-depth assessment and analysis to look into early recovery and rehabilitation concerns and start the rebuilding process and the placement and strengthening of early warning procedures and preparedness on the issues of zoning and identification of possible relocation sites,” they said.

They proposed that the P2 billion be released to the appropriate departments and agencies that will help the local government units and the people rebuild Cagayan de Oro and Iligan.

The Rodriguez brothers pointed out that their proposal for a reconstruction fund is not without precedent.

They noted that in 2008, after typhoon “Frank” devastated Iloilo City and other parts of Western Visayas, the House and the Senate appropriated additional funding in the billions for the rebuilding of these areas.

According to official reports, as of Dec. 27, 2011, Sendong affected 92,964 families or 641,098 persons. Deaths were placed at 1,249, with more than a thousand still missing.

A total of 42,325 houses were damaged, with 12,805 totally destroyed and 29,520 partially destroyed. In Cagayan de Oro City alone 7,317 houses were lost, while 12,635 were partially damaged.

Earlier, Eastern Samar Rep. Ben Evardone urged the government to undertake a “Marshall Plan-type” reconstruction program in Northern Mindanao.

At the same time, he asked Congress to put together a comprehensive bill that would protect the environment and mitigate disasters like the devastating floods that washed down low-lying areas in Cagayan de Oro and Iligan recently, and in the Bicol region, Leyte and Western Visayas in previous years.