‘Sendong’ killer logs traced to Makati-based logging firm

DAVAO CITY, Philippines—The logs that killed many people at the height of the December 17 flash floods that swept through Iligan City may have come from the stockpile of a logging company operating in Lanao del Sur since 1975, the body investigating the wanton cutting of trees in the province said.

The Task Force Sendong, a team created by Governor Mujiv Hataman of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, said in its initial report Tuesday that the logs were traced from the forestlands of Kapai and Tagoloan II towns in Lanao del Sur, where Vicmar Development Corp., a Makati-based logging and plywood company, operates.

The Inquirer repeatedly tried but failed to reach VicMar officials through the company’s listed number as nobody picked up the phone.

Hataman said he has not furnished VicMar with the copy of the report yet as it was only the initial finding of the task force. He said he was not singling out the company.

“We need to get more documents and the statements of three former DENR-ARMM secretaries,” he said.

In pointing to VicMar, the task force said it took into consideration several facts, including reports on the existence of “carabao logging” or small-scale in the two municipalities.

“Reports say, however, that some of the logs could also be the result of the so-called carabao logging by small-scale loggers who do timber poaching to cut trees without any permit from the (Department of Environment and Natural Resources) ARMM. But the effect of carabao logging is only minimal compared to the large-scale logging by VicMar,” the report said.

The task force said VicMar has been stock-piling timber in its log pond in the Kapai-Bayug river junction before processing the wood at its sawmill in Barangay Hinaplanon in Iligan City, which lies on one bank of the Mandulog River.

“So after the logs are being stocked at the ‘log pond,’ these logs will be naturally drifted away to Iligan City through the Mandulog River,” the task force said.

The task force acknowledged that another logging company—Tagoloan Poblacion Farmer Multi-purpose Coop.—holds an Integrated Forest Management Agreement (Ifma) in Tagoloan II town but based on the claim of the DENR-ARMM, it has not yet conducted any operation.

“Only VicMar has been in operation on the area since 1975,” the task force said.

VicMar, the task force said,  previously obtained a Timber License Agreement covering 18,730 hectares of forest in Kapai and Tagoloan II. The TLA, issued on November 27, 1975 expired on June 30, 1997.

The task force said it found out that before its TLA expired, VicMar applied for an Ifma.

“Under the Ifma issued on March 25, 1996, the total land area was reduced from 18,730 hectares to 6,795 hectares. The said Ifma will expire on March 24, 2021 and was issued during the leadership of former ARMM Governor Lininding Pangandaman,” the report said.

When former ARMM Governor Zaldy Ampatuan banned logging in the region, VicMar was able to obtain an exemption. The exemption was issued on January 29, 2009 by then ARMM executive secretary Oscar Sampulna.

The task force said when a new ban was ordered by ARMM Acting Governor Ansaruddin Adiong  in March 2010, VicMar was told to “stop temporarily the hauling of prior cut logs subject to inspection and proper clearance.”

On January 5, 2011, Adiong allowed VicMar and four other companies to immediately dispose of their  logs.

Environment officials in Lanao del Sur, the task force said, had claimed they had not received information that VicMar and the other companies continued to cut trees after the ban issued by Adiong took effect.

They said that because VicMar had stockpiled its logs near Iligan City, which is part of Lanao del Norte in Northern Mindanao region, the job of monitoring  the company’s activities fell on Lanao del Norte officials.

In Iligan City, Ranulfo Cenas, officer in-charge of the City Environment and Management Office, said the city government needed P3 million to clear up the city’s coastal areas of logs scattered by the floods.

“The cost of the rent for the forklift, backhoe and other heavy equipment would cost about three to four thousand pesos per hour,” Cenas said.

He said without the use of heavy equipment, the clearing operation would takes weeks to complete.

With a report from Tito N. Fiel, Inquirer Mindanao