4,000 board feet illegally-cut lumber seized in Lanao del Sur

LANAO DEL SUR, Philippines — Personnel of the Navy’s 5th Marine Battalion intercepted Tuesday 4,000 board feet of lumber cut from old coconut trees without permission from the government.

The Isuzu truck carrying the “cocolumber” was promptly stopped and impounded by Marines at a checkpoint in Barangay Maladeg in Picong town in Lanao del Sur, acting on tips from villagers.

It is illegal to cut old, non-productive coconut trees for lumber without corresponding clearances from the agriculture and natural resources department.

The 1st Marine Brigade, in a report to Major Gen. Juvymax Uy of the 6th Infantry Division, said smugglers were to deliver the cocolumber to a buyer in nearby Pagadian City in Zamboanga del Sur province.

The Army’s 6th ID under Uy, also head of the anti-terror Joint Task Force Central, has operational control over the Philippine Navy’s 1st Marine Brigade and its component-battalions assigned in a number of towns in Lanao del Sur.

Eight persons --- truck driver Amano Toma and companions Januden Toma, Zaldy Anto, Aksaram Marohog, Yazir Sentian, Makmod Lauyan, Habin Layan and Jun Lauyan --- were apprehended for the foiled cocolumber smuggling attempt.

The Marines immediately endorsed them and their truck full of cocolumber to the Picong municipal police, according to the 1st Marine Brigade.