P600T worth of illegal lumber confiscated

CEBU, Philippines – A pile of freshly cut red lawaan lumber, about 11,777.47 board feet and worth an estimated P600,000, was confiscated by authorities Saturday afternoon at Sitio Magocdoc in Barangay Quezon of Ormoc City.

The confiscation of the illegal lumber was conducted during a raid by a joint team of the military and the police, and officials of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, headed by its Law Enforcement Division chief, Allen Cebuano.

The allegedly undocumented pieces of lumber were stockpiled at the area where trucks could already reach it for hauling. More lumber was also found nearby, haphazardly thrown about, like it was to be hauled for stockpiling but were abandoned in a hurry.

Cebuano told The FREEMAN the raid was conducted after intelligence men of the Philippine Navy got information about illegal cutting of trees in the area. He also doubted the claims of three persons who said they owned the hot items, and they were only runners of the real owner, who was reportedly an influential person in Ormoc.

The three “runners” were identified as Samuel “Wengweng” Manigao, Rene Corsonete and Reneboy Condes, who were at the scene and claimed they owned the lumber and that the permit was still being processed at the community environment and natural resources office at the neighboring town of Albuera, Leyte.

During the raid, Cebuano said he received a call from someone who wanted to settle the matter and negotiate for the release of the lumber to him. "I told the three ‘runners’ to talk instead to our superiors at the DENR-8 regional office, because we are determined to take legal action against those who are responsible in these illegal activities.”

Manigao tried to talk to the apprehending team, saying the items had papers and showing a photocopy of a land title, issued to a certain Candido Patenio, a barangay certification bearing the name of Carsonete, and an inspection report “for the scaling of sliced lumber” signed by Elviro Reyes of CENRO on October 19.

Cebuano, however, said the papers presented to him by Manigao were not the proper documents to make the lumber legal. It was not a permit to cut, said Cebuano, adding that Manigao even dropped the name of CENRO officer Eugene Mozo, who allegedly approved the cutting of the tree.

Cebuano said he could not speak for Mozo and his men, because the latter was aware of the raid. “It was our director (DENR-8) who called him (Mozo),” about it and that the lumber was deemed illegal due to lack of supporting documents.

The raiding team would be filing a complaint against the three “runners,” but Cebuano said they wanted to flush out the financier, who he said was a businessman with ties to the city administration.

The seized pieces of lumber were loaded in private and military trucks, and left in the custody of three entities: 365 pieces were left with the Ormoc City Police Office, 175 pieces with the 802nd Infantry Brigade, and an estimated 2,500 board feet at the 19th Infantry Battalion in Kananga, Leyte. (FREEMAN)