Cops seize P7,200 worth illegal lumber abandoned in Oriental Mindoro town

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CITY OF CALAPAN –– Police seized 25 assorted pieces of illegally sawn Gmelina lumber Wednesday, June 9, in Pola town in Oriental Mindoro province, said a report from the Mimaropa (Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon, Palawan) police.

At 10:30 a.m. in Barangay Casiligan, the police found about 160 board feet of abandoned lumber worth P7,200.

Witnesses told them they saw a resident of Barangay Tiguihan leave the place “after concealing the sawn tree on the nearby road.”

Village officials said they did not have the name of the suspect in their records to cut a Gmelina tree in their place.

The police are now looking for the suspect.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday morning in Rizal town in Occidental Mindoro province, the police arrested Arjon Francisco, 27, a laborer of Barangay San Pedro, in possession of an unregistered chainsaw.

He was charged for violation of the Chainsaw Act of 2002. The law requires the registration of chainsaws with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. It carries a penalty of six years in prison or a fine of P30,000.

LZB