Authorities inspecting the second bush fire site in the Buhisan Watershed arrested an illegal logger in barangay Toong, Cebu City.
Confiscated from Pablo Paran were 19 pieces of cut mahogany and bingliw timber or 207 board feet worth P14,130.20.
Foresters from the Dept. of Environment and Natural Resources 7 (DENR 7) were inspecting the fire site in the protected area last Monday when they discovered the illegal logs.
The confiscated was turned over to DENR Buhisan Station under the custody of Forest Guard Sergio Mamitis.
Paran, a resident of barangay Quiot Pardo in Cebu City, is now detained at the Cebu provincial jail.
He was charged with and was charged for violating Section 77 of the Forestry Code or Presidential Decree 705 as amended, said DENR 7 spokesman Eddie Llamedo.
The government reforestation area is within the Buhisan Watershed and Forest Reserve, part of the 29,062-hectare Central Cebu Protected Landscape (CCPL).
Protected Area Superintendent Ariel Rica said this is the second case of illegal logging caught by authorities along the Buhisan Watershed and Forest Reserve.
The first one involved a Toong resident who was able to post bail.
DENR Regional Executive Director Maximo O. Dichoso in a statement said “cutting of trees within the CCPL area is a clear violation of existing environmental laws and we want to protect the trees planted there as we are very much concerned on the bush fire incidence in the area,”
The Buhisan Dam is a source of 5 percent of the supply of the Metropolitan Cebu Water District (MCWD).