Illegally cut logs (CONTRIBUTED PHOTO)
LEGAZPI CITY, Albay — An alleged illegal logger was arrested when he was about to transport several pieces of hot logs in Tabaco City in Albay province, police said Wednesday.
Police Chief Inspector Arthur Ramirez Gomez, Albay police public information officer, said suspect Cristobal Brogate, 25, resident of Barangay (village) San Antonio, also in Tabaco City, was caught with about 11 flitches of narra in different sizes and loaded in a tricycle at around 10:05 p.m. Monday.
“The suspect was arrested through a tip from a concerned citizen which said the illegal logs were about to be transported to an unknown destination,” Gomez said. He said the number of board feet and market value of hot logs were being determined by a forester from Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
A case for violation of Presidential Decree 705, also known as the “Forestry Reform Code of the Philippines,” will be filed against the suspect while the recovered hot logs will be turned over to DENR Albay provincial office in Legazpi City. SFM