CEBU, Philippines – A composite team from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Region 8, the Energy Development Corporation and the Ormoc City-based 78th Infantry Battalion confiscated on Sunday an estimated 3,000 board feet of illegally cut lumber from the forest of Barangay Villa Corazon in Burauen town of Leyte.
The seized pieces of lumber, mostly red and white lawaan and valued at around P150,000, are now in custody of the 78th IB.
DENR-8 Regional Director Leonardo Sibbaluca said the pieces of lumber were recovered from two separate locations in the barangay, the first of which was under a thick cover of leaves and the second batch was found near the houses of residents of the barangay proper.
Sibbaluca said it was not the first confiscation of "hot lumber" from the same barangay. In June last year, a total of 42,000-bd ft of lumber was also seized in the area.
Residents, however, have been uncooperative in pinpointing the mastermind behind the large scale illegal logging, telling them that they just saw people piling the lumber outside their houses and that they do not know them.
Villa Corazon is one of the villages where Binahaan River passes through from Lake Danao in Ormoc City, and is the main source of potable water of at least 10 towns in Leyte and even Tacloban City.
A monitoring team, consisting of EDC rangers and blue guards of the Leyte Water Metropolitan District, among others, would be guarding the forest reserves spanning from Ormoc down to Burauen.