ARMM log policy assailed

A new logging policy that acting Governor Mujiv Hataman plans to implement in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) will not guarantee the safety of forest areas from loggers, a senior Moro rebel leader said.

“The best thing to do is to totally stop the cutting of trees, whether from the natural growth forests or not,” said Von Al Haq, spokesperson of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

“Do we want another ‘Sendong’ to happen before we will do what is right?” Al Haq said. He was referring to floods brought about by Tropical Storm “Sendong,” which swept Cagayan de Oro and Iligan cities on December 16 and 17, carrying logs that pummeled many people to their deaths.

Hataman earlier announced a selective logging policy of the regional government, which would be conducting an inventory of tree plantations in the ARMM to determine who would be given tree-cutting permits. He said the issuance of permits in the region was not covered by President Benigno Aquino III’s order imposing a log ban nationwide.

While the cutting of trees in plantation areas will be allowed, Hataman said logging in the forested areas would remain prohibited.

But Al Haq said this was no guarantee that loggers would not intrude in natural forest areas. Unless a total log ban was implemented, he said, the Iligan and Cagayan de Oro disasters could occur again. Jeoffrey Maitem and Charlie Señase, Inquirer Mindanao