BUTUAN CITY, Philippines -- Environment Secretary Lito Atienza has sacked the director of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in the Caraga Region for his alleged involvement in illegal logging activities.

The relief of Benjamin Tumaliuan came early this week, days after Atienza met behind closed door here with Butuan Bishop Juan de Dios Pueblos and environmental advocates who aired their complaints against the official's alleged role in illegal logging.

Atienza said he found "very reliable" the issues and concerns raised by Pueblos and his group on Tumaliuan's alleged wrongdoings and his inaction in curbing widespread illegal logging operations.

"I consider the information of Bishop Pueblos very reliable. I agree with the good bishop that illegal logging must be stopped and [the] guilty parties punished," Atienza told the Philippine Daily Inquirer (parent company of INQUIRER.net).

Militant tribal and environmental groups in Caraga have openly accused Tumaliuan of enriching himself by coddling big time illegal loggers and unscrupulous politicians, an accusation he has vehemently denied.

Named by the communist-led National Democratic Front (NDF) in Mindanao as the alleged godfather of "a highly organized inter-agency protection ring," Tumaliuan allegedly had pocketed at least P700 million in protection money during the past five years, the rebels said.

Atienza admitted illegal logging in Caraga remains unabated due to the laxity of his agency’s personnel and the supposed involvement of powerful politicians in the lucrative but illicit trade.

But Atienza said he would not hesitate to go after these politicians.

"Whoever they are, I'm not afraid of these politicians behind illegal logging in Caraga," he said.

He also vowed that more heads would roll "to make the agency effective in our drive against illegal logging."

"I will not hesitate to do what is necessary to make DENR effective on the ground and I'm not afraid of the politicians behind illegal logging in Caraga," he said

Victoriano Vidal, chief executive officer of the Tribal Coalition in Mindanao (Tricom), welcomed the relief of Tumaliuan.

Vidal, who filed several cases against Tumaliuan before the Office of the Ombudsman in Mindanao, said Atienza's decision was a step toward environmental protection and sustainable ecology.

"Everybody in Caraga knows what Tumaliuan did to our forests. Atienza was serving justice to the lumad [indigenous people] and to the environment at large," Vidal said.