Sawmills next target in logging war

DAVAO CITY—The Department of Environment and Natural Resources on Thursday announced that it would shut down sawmills and wood processing plants in Southern Mindanao that could not present proof of having legal sources of wood.

The move, according to DENR Southern Mindanao director Joselin Marcus Fragada, was part of the intensified campaign against illegal logging, which has put the region in the limelight as one of Mindanao’s biggest sources of illegal timber.

Fragada’s predecessor, Jim Sampulna, was among 31 environment officials ordered sacked in the wake of seizures in Manila of illegal logs coming from Mindanao in June.

“All processing plants without supply contracts that can sustain them in the next five years will be suspended,” Fragada said.

He said DENR acknowledged the wood industry’s “vibrant contribution to the economy in the region” but forest protection has higher priority.

“The DENR has to ensure that the logs come only from legitimate sources,” he said, adding that the move is part of the enforcement of Executive Order No. 23, which declared a national moratorium on logging in natural and residual forest.

158 sawmills

There are at least 158 registered sawmills in Davao del Sur, Davao del Norte, Compostela Valley, Davao Oriental and this city, but only 70 are operational.

Fragada said DENR is currently validating the sources of logs of these wood processing firms.

“We have to know where they are getting their supply, whether these are imports or from local sources,” he said.

He said logs used in processing plants and sawmills should come from private plantations, not from areas covered by Integrated Forest Management Agreements (Ifma), government jargon for logging permits that had been ordered cancelled by EO No. 23.

Fragada said an integral part of the campaign against illegal logging was to reduce the number of checkpoints while increasing their efficiency, securing ports and winning the cooperation of shipping lines.

Reducing the number of checkpoints, Fragada said, will also help curb corruption at checkpoints where law enforcers are known to allow illegal logs to pass through in exchange for bribes.

Night ban

In Calabarzon (Cavite-Laguna-Batangas-Rizal-Quezon), DENR said it will prohibit the transport of hardwood and commercial forest products at night to strengthen the campaign against illegal logging.

Forest products transported at night, even if covered by permits from DENR, would be considered contraband and seized, said Reynulfo Juan, DENR-Calabarzon director, in a statement.

He said criminal charges would be filed against violators of the order.

The new strategy against illegal logging was agreed upon in a meeting by DENR provincial officials held recently at the regional office in Calamba City.

The transport prohibition starts from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. seven days a week, according to Millete Panaligan, head of the Community Environment and Natural Resources Office (Cenro) in Real, Quezon.

Juan said the Cenro in different provinces would issue transport permits for forest products valid for three days with a specific condition that the hauling should be done only in daytime. Germelina Lacorte, Inquirer Mindanao and Delfin T. Mallari Jr., Inquirer Southern Luzon