Aurora governor deplores unmanned log checkpoints

CASIGURAN, Aurora, Philippines – For the ’nth time, Gov. Bellaflor Angara-Castillo blew her top anew over lapses of government law en­forcers, including the Philippine National Police and the Philippine Army over the unmanned and undermanned checkpoints of the provincial government-led task force against illegal logging which, she said, slowed down the campaign against tree-cutters in the province.

In a meeting with Task Force Sagip Kalikasan at the Aurora Pacific Special Economic Zone here Monday, Angara-Castillo spent an hour taking to task provincial police director, Senior Superintendent Rosvi Manulid who admitted that logging trucks were able to pass through checkpoints.

The governor was visibly peeved with Manu­lid who, she said, appeared to lack the “seriousness” in carrying out the task force’s mission of ridding the province of illegal loggers. This, after Manulid admitted that certain trucks suspected of carrying coconut lumber which is banned in the province may have been able to pass through the checkpoints undetected.

Manulid said that it’s difficult to actually determine whether a vehicle is loaded with coco lumber that’s why it is possible that some of these vehicles pass through the checkpoints. He said it is also difficult to unload the cargo one by one to uncover what was inside.

This angered Angara-Castillo who said Manulid lacked the resolve to arrest illegal loggers and timber poachers. “If you will say that detecting illegal cargo is hard, why give up on something when it’s hard to do? If you will allow vehicles containing them, then don’t guard the checkpoints anymore,” she said.

Juan Millar of the Philippine Coconut Authority came to Manulid’s defense, saying it’s hard to search coco lumber in the absence of a search warrant from the court.

An exasperated Angara-Castillo reacted: “Are you all cowards? Why give up on something that’s hard to do? It’s hard indeed but we have to do it?” she said.

She said the local PNP should step up its counter-intelligence capability to be effective in the fight against illegal logging.

Last month, the governor called the attention of Superintendent Alfredo Roxas, chief of the Provincial Public Safety Co. for the “disappearing act” of lawmen in the checkpoints.

Roxas did not attend Monday’s meeting of the task force.

Angara-Castillo also voiced concern that only two policemen were manning each checkpoint for 24 hours which, she said, was not enough to monitor passing vehicles. “If only two will man the checkpoints, it won’t be effective because they cannot stay awake for 24 hours,” she said.