MANILA, Philippines—Some 85 suspected illegal loggers have been arrested and P15 million worth of logs and timber seized in separate operations launched by environment and police authorities in the Caraga region, officials said on Wednesday.
In a report to the Philippine National Police (PNP) Director General Nicanor Bartolome, the Caraga police regional director, Chief Supt. Reynaldo Rafal, said the chain of 159 operations conducted over the past few weeks was a huge boost to the anti-illegal logging campaign in Mindanao.
The Caraga region consists of the two Agusan and two Surigao provinces.
Regional officials of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) estimated the value of the confiscated wood products at P14.9 million, taking about 110 truckloads.
The operations were conducted under the auspices of the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC).
In a statement, Interior Undersecretary Rico Puno said the wood products forfeited in favor of the government would be made into desks for public schools in Caraga or used to build shelters and outposts for PNP units in the region.
“All these spoils of man’s greed and abuse of nature are forever gone and we cannot possibly bring these trees back to life ever. But we can have better use for these contraband instead—by serving the needs of the community who are the ultimate victims of these illegal activities,” Puno said.
“The PAOCC will continue to support law-enforcement action to prosecute all persons behind this wanton destruction of our forest cover here in Mindanao,” he said.
Puno said the “full might” of the country’s law enforcement community represented by the PNP, the Armed Forces of the Philippines, DENR, backed by the PAOCC, would continue to wage war against environmental law violators.