11,664 bd-ft of illegal lumber seized

LOPE DE VEGA, N. SAMAR, Philippines — Joint government operatives have confiscated a total of 11,664 board feet of illegal lumber at sitio Kalangkaan of this town in Northern Samar last July 1 (Sunday).

The operatives were from the 20th Infantry Battalion, led by Sgt. Diomedes Latasan, the Lope de Vega Police headed by SPO4 Juan Cuesta, and the municipal environment and natural resources office led by Jojo Casco.

Lieutenant Col. Noel Vestuir, commander of the 20th IB, said the joint operation was conducted after Mayor Erlinda Cinco of Lope de Vega received information that assorted lumbers were trapped along Kalangkaan River.

Cinco immediately requested for assistance from the military and the police for the confiscation of the lumber.

Upon reaching the area at around 6:30 p.m., the responding team found the abandoned pieces of lumber; however, the alleged owner had already fled the scene.

Vestuir, in his report to Col. Rolando Malinao, commander of the 803rd Infantry Brigade based in Catarman, Northern Samar, said the illegal lumber has a market value of about P256,608 based on the estimate by Kenneth Yves Salon, chief of the Forest Protection and Law Enforcement Unit of the DENR.

The confiscation was made possible through the cooperation and collaboration of residents in the area to protect the forest against illegal logging activities, said Vestuir, adding that the timely relay of information has enabled authorities to sequester the items as evidence of illegal logging activities in the area.

The seized lumbers were hauled and are now impounded at the Lope de Vega Municipal Hall for proper documentation and disposition.  - THE FREEMAN