COTABATO CITY, Philippines—The government of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) is finalizing charges against several individuals in Kapai, Lanao del Sur, in connection with the seizure of 25 truckloads of logs there last week, ARMM Governor Mujiv Hataman said.
Hataman would not identify any of the would-be respondents whom he planned to charge with violation of forestry laws pending the actual filing of the charges against them in court.
But he said this showed that even people perceived to be influential were not being spared in the campaign against illegal logging in the province, which was blamed for the heavy death toll from the December 16 flood in Iligan City.
Dozens of logs carried by the strong current crushed many people to death.
An initial report released by Task Force Sendong, which Hataman formed to look into the illegal logging operations in Lanao del Sur, pointed to VicMar Development Corp., a Makati City-based company, as the largest logging operator in the province since 1975.
VicMar also allegedly stored its logs on a holding pond near Iligan City which, when the flash flood came, were unleashed on residents living on the path of the rampaging log-bearing floodwaters.
Reports suggested that influential individuals were behind the company, enabling it to proceed with its logging operations despite the imposition of a total log ban in the region by the two past governors of the ARMM.
In addition to a total log ban, Hataman also issued a moratorium on the issuance of private land timber permits so as not to provide loggers any excuse.
The Inquirer’s repeated efforts to contact VicMar officials through the company’s published number have repeatedly failed.
Hataman said that aside from identifying individuals or companies behind illegal logging operations in Lanao del Sur, the Task Force Ranao has so far managed to shut down seven sawmills in the province.
As in the ARMM, illegal logging has also been partly blamed for floods and landslides that occur with regularity in the Caraga and Southern Mindanao regions.
Tagum City Mayor Rey Uy lamented that despite the nationwide ban ordered by President Benigno Aquino III last year, logging activities continued.
Uy cited the confiscation made by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), the latest of which was on December 30.
The seized logs were turned over to the Tagum City government to be fabricated into school furniture.
Uy said it was apparent that some DENR men were in cahoots with illegal loggers because the cutting of trees has persisted.
Jim Sampulna, DENR director for Southern Mindanao, admitted that two DENR employees were being investigated for suspicion of involvement in illegal logging activities in the region.
He admitted that since Mr. Aquino issued Executive Order No. 23, the DENR has confiscated more than 4,000 cubic meters of illegally cut forest products with an estimated value of P19.6 million.
“Part of these confiscations was donated to the Department of Education for the manufacture of school armchairs, desks, teachers’ tables and other school fixtures. To date, DENR has already donated a total of 2.78 cu. m. of confiscated logs,” Sampulna said.
“I believe that DENR-XI was not remiss in its function to protect the forests. My men, in coordination with the LGUs, PNP, Philippine Army and the National Anti-Illegal Logging Task Force, have risked their lives and worked long hours in the field to make these confiscations” Sampulna said.