10 Davao Norte sawmills closed down

MANILA—Ten sawmills operating clandestinely in Davao Del Norte were shut down as part of a crackdown on illegal logging by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the Philippine Army and the Philippine National Police, an official said Friday.

Joint environment, army and police operatives padlocked the mini-sawmills that were allegedly operating without permits in the towns of Kapalong and San Isidro during a four-day operation, DENR-Region 11 Executive Director Joselin Marcus Fragada said.

In a news release, Fragada said the operation was the offshoot of a report by a local official that machinery was surreptitiously being put up or already operating in the remote areas of Kapalong town.

A report by a local office of DENR in Tagum City also showed that the sawmills, which used to manufacture only vegetable/fruit boxes using farmed Gmelina species, were  manufacturing lumber of various dimensions using “undocumented naturally grown round logs of lauan species and other miscellaneous forest trees species,” in violation of Executive Order 23.

EO 23 imposes a moratorium on the cutting and harvesting of timber in natural and residual forests.  It also provides for the creation of an anti-illegal logging task force chaired by the environment and natural resources secretary.

Fragada said that aside from closing down the sawmills, the operatives also confiscated one chain saw, 284 pieces of lumber valued at P98,687.36, and 17 pieces of mixed dipterocarp logs worth P12,550.

He said his office was investigating the identities of the owners of the sawmills for the filing of appropriate charges.