Illegal ‘Sierra Madre lumber’ seized in Quezon

LUCENA CITY –– Anti-illegal logging operatives intercepted a van loaded with illegally cut Narra lumber along the Maharlika Highway in Sariaya, Quezon on Wednesday, police said.

Acting on a tip from an informant, policemen conducting checkpoint tried to stop a van at the town center in Barangay Poblacion 6 around 5 a.m.

But instead of stopping, the said van sped off towards
nearby Candelaria town. After a brief chase, the law enforcers cornered the escaping vehicle in the village of Sampaloc 2.

Policemen found the van loaded with 15 undocumented pieces of Narra timber measuring 1.040 cubic meters (440.96 board feet) worth P66,144 in the underground market and one lawaan timber measuring 0.050 cubic meter (21.20 board feet) worth P1,060.

Authorities arrested driver Jayson Peñon, capitalist Augusto Perez, and helper Jeric Millares, all residents of Mauban town.

Mauban, a coastal town facing the Pacific Ocean, has long been known as a transshipment point for illegal forest products from the Sierra Madre bound for Metro Manila and Southern Tagalog provinces.

Authorities are still investigating if the seized illegal forest products came from the northern Quezon side of the Sierra Madre or Northern Luzon. Delfin T. Mallari Jr. /lzb.