SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga, Philippines – The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in Central Luzon has ordered the immediate inventory of lumber stocks and logs of over 400 furniture shops and sash factories in the region.
“This is in a bid to monitor the wood industry’s compliance with President Aquino’s Executive Order 23, which calls for a moratorium on the cutting and harvesting of timber in natural and residual forests,†the regional DENR office said in a statement.
DENR regional executive director Maximo Dichoso deployed four composite teams of senior foresters, each led by a DENR deputy director, to Bulacan, Pampanga, Tarlac and Nueva Ecija, to determine the sources of wood materials and the available wood supply of furniture makers and sash manufacturers in these provinces.
EO 23, issued in February 2011, orders a logging moratorium on national and residual forests to protect and stop the destruction of watersheds and river systems.
Aquino also created a task force to lead the government’s campaign against illegal logging.
Dichoso authorized the DENR teams to confiscate all illegal lumber found in the stockyard of wood manufacturers and file charges against them under the Revised Forestry Code of the Philippines or PD 705 and other applicable laws.
“The move is to ensure that the wood industry only gets its supply of raw materials from legitimate sources, and that appropriate forestry taxes are paid to the government,†he said.
He said erring wood manufacturers would also be charged with theft under Articles 309 and 310 of the Revised Penal Code, and face imprisonment of up to 20 years for forest products worth more than P22,000.