Cops seize P17,000 worth of illegal lumber in Oriental Mindoro town
CITY OF CALAPAN — Police seized 34 assorted pieces of illegally sawn lauan in Naujan town of Oriental Mindoro province Thursday, June 10, a report from the Mimaropa (Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon, Palawan) police said.
The lumber, totaling 343.5 board feet valued at P17,000, was found abandoned in Barangay Inarawan at 6:30 a.m., the report added.
Witnesses told authorities they saw a group of men from the next town of Victoria leaving the place “upon sensing the presence of the responding police officers.”
The culprits would not only be liable for violating Forestry laws but for possession of what police believed was an undocumented chain saw, which, under the Chainsaw Act of 2002, requires the tool to be registered with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
Violation of the Chainsaw Act carries a penalty of six years in prison or a fine of P30,000. MADONNA T. VIROLA
