Agusan officials quizzed on confiscated hot logs

BUTUAN CITY, Philippines – Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo has sought an explanation from officials of towns surrounding the Agusan River why some 3,000 illegally cut logs recently passed through their areas of jurisdiction unnoticed.

Robredo said he instructed Chief Superintendent Reynaldo Rafal, Caraga police director, to investigate the chiefs of police in four river towns.

He said those found to be liable should either be suspended or relieved from their post.

“We will give time for them to explain why and what happened before we give sanctions as provided by law but definitely they have lots of explaining to do,” Robredo said.

Robredo said barangay officials in the towns of La Paz, San Luis and Talacogon, all in Agusan del Sur, failed to stop the cutting of trees in their respective jurisdictions.

Butuan City officials, who led the confiscation of the hot logs, earlier said local officials, including the police chiefs of La Paz, Talacogon and Esperanza towns, could be held liable for failing to detect the entry of the hot logs in their respective areas.

They also questioned why the illegally cut logs passed through checkpoints manned by personnel of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), policemen and soldiers in Batohon and Esperanza towns in Agusan del Sur and Las Nieves in Agusan del Norte.

Robredo said the campaign against illegal logging should start in forests and this could be done in cooperation with local officials and communities.

Manobo tribal members from La Paz, Talacogon and Esperanza towns, meanwhile, admitted during their dialogue with Robredo this week that they owned the confiscated logs.

They said they harvested the logs in their ancestral lands for delivery to different wood processing plants in the Butuan City.

The Manobo tribesmen earlier had written President Aquino and DENR Secretary Ramon Paje to return the confiscated logs, saying they would use the proceeds from the sale of the logs for the education of their children.

Robredo, however, rejected the request of the Manobo tribesmen, saying no one is exempted from the total log ban.