Aurora log retrieval permits being used by illegal loggers?

DINGALAN, Aurora — Legitimate permits issued by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) for the retrieval of felled logs in 2004 are being misused and are, in fact, being lent to illegal loggers who use them to sneak out logs in the guise of retrieval operations.

Dingalan Mayor Edgardo Galvez told The STAR that the permits issued by the DENR’s Natural Resources Development Corp. (NRDC) may have been exploited by illegal loggers to bring contraband logs out of the province.

"Papano mong sasabihing illegal logging ‘yan e may papel naman sila? Labanan mo man sa kasuhan, wala kang kalaban-laban dahil me papel (How can you say that it’s illegal logging when they have papers? Even if you go to court, you can’t fight them because they have papers to show)," he said.

The NRDC issued the permits to selected individuals in order to retrieve logs swept by landslides that struck the province in 2004. The retrieved logs were to be processed into lumber for distribution to calamity victims.

Galvez said most of the recipients of these permits are cooperatives, although he admitted that they have no way of monitoring the distribution of the lumber.

He said the DENR, not the municipal officials, should be blamed for the continued existence of illegal logging in the town, claiming that the agency is the one tolerating it.

Last week, Gov. Bellaflor Angara-Castillo scolded municipal officials for failing to contain illegal logging and even abetting it.

Angara-Castillo said she has ordered an investigation into reports that log retrieval permits were being used to smuggle out contraband logs.

"I heard that the permits are being franchised to make it appear this is not illegal logging," she said.

She said she would sit down with DENR officials to make sure that holders of legitimate permits do not lend them to unscrupulous individuals.

Galvez, however, said there is no evidence that freshly cut logs, not the felled ones, were being brought out of the province.

He said holders of log retrieval permits have until July 2 to bring out all the retrieved logs.

After the deadline, he said the municipal government could exercise its power to confiscate any logs being moved out of the town.

Galvez said Siriporn Enterprises, the contractor enlisted by the NRDC, is no longer retrieving logs.

Last January, the DENR turned over 238,000 board feet of lumber for distribution to 776 families displaced by the 2004 landslides.