MANGATAREM, Pangasinan—Illegal loggers operating in the Pangasinan-Zambales mountains are well-funded and organized, environment officials said.
Samuel Peñafiel, regional executive director of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), said one piece of evidence on this is the presence of spur roads for use of bulldozers and trucks in hauling felled trees.
“We saw newly built roads going deep into the forest and a lot of large trees that have been cut. So, these are not just ordinary people cutting one or two trees, but loggers,” Peñafiel said after inspecting the area on Tuesday.
Peñafiel was with a group composing the regional and provincial anti-illegal logging task forces of Pangasinan and Zambales that included policemen and soldiers.
The group traveled upland through the 54-kilometer Mangatarem-Sta. Cruz (Zambales) dirt road built in 2008. The road was built, apparently, even without a contract and budget from the Department of Public Works and Highways.
During the road construction, more than 200 trees were cut despite the absence of a tree-cutting permit from the DENR, Peñafiel said.
He, however, declined to name the people behind the illegal logging operations, saying authorities have no evidence against these people yet.
“We did not apprehend anyone up there so we don’t have anybody to tell us who is behind it. There are names, but until such time that we have solid evidence, we cannot mention their names in the meantime,” Peñafiel said.
Gov. Amado Espino Jr. said Mangatarem residents have been complaining about massive tree cutting in upland areas there, while they worked hard to plant trees.
He said it was time environment officials see for themselves the situation in the area.
Peñafiel said the spur roads’ entrances were barricaded with logs when they arrived on Tuesday.
“Maybe, it was to prevent us from confiscating the logs. But we entered some of them and we were able to take photographs and video footage,” Peñafiel said.
He said illegal loggers cut trees in several areas that cover about 50 hectares, mostly in the Zambales side which, he said, has thicker forest cover.
Peñafiel said what worsened the situation was that charcoal makers also feasted on smaller trees.
“The illegal loggers cut trees which have at least 60 centimeters diameter. But the charcoal makers, they cut the smaller ones and burned parts of the mountain,” he said.
Sofio Quintana, DENR Central Luzon technical director for forestry, said environment officials from his region and Ilocos would meet next week to discuss measures to protect the Zambales-Pangasinan mountains. Gabriel Cardinoza, Inquirer Northern Luzon