Agusan illegal logging shows lessons unlearned

STA. JOSEFA, Agusan del Sur—The discovery of a massive illegal logging operation near where scenes of destruction left by Typhoon “Pablo” last year are still fresh came as a disturbing reminder for officials of how some lessons, no matter how painful, are never learned.

Authorities, led by Mayor Jann Ruby Otero of this town, launched antilogging operations since Tuesday that yielded piles upon piles of logs from trees cut inside a 900-hectare timberland covered by a community-based forest management (CBFM) program.

The devastation attributed to Pablo had been aggravated by logging in forest areas that unleashed logs that pummeled people to death at the height of flooding in several areas in the province.

The village of Awao here was hard hit. No house was left standing after Pablo swept through the area and three residents died due to landslides.

Otero said that though authorities knew illegal logging existed in the village, the volume of logs that had been seized during the operations surprised them. The mayor said at least 400 logs had been found.

Anti-illegal logging operations also started in Sayon, another village here that was hit hard by Pablo.

Marvin Mentero, municipal environment and natural resources officer, said residents apparently were aware of illegal logging in the village of Awao but tolerated it, not heeding the lessons offered by the tragedy brought by Pablo.

Mentero recalled one instance when an angry resident confronted the raiding team and said: “Why are you interfering with this petty business?” It was an attitude that mirrored how other residents felt about the antilogging raids, Mentero said.

“I believe there’s somebody behind this,” he said.

Amado Roxas, chair of the people’s organization that manages the CBFM programs in the villages, admitted that illegally cut lauan logs are being smuggled to a veneer processing plant based in Sta. Isabel village, which is allegedly owned by the family of a politician.

“We cannot stop them because we are being threatened through text messages,” Roxas told the Inquirer.

Otero said local businessmen and politicians involved in illegal logging would be prosecuted. “Definitely, heads will roll with the logs that rolled,” Otero said. He said it is painful to see efforts to replant trees in the CBFM area being laid to waste by illegal logging. Chris Panganiban, Inquirer Mindanao