Piles of hot lumber seized in Quezon

Illegally cut logs from Sierra Madre in Infanta, Quezon. (INQUIRER FILE PHOTO/CONTRIBUTED PHOTO)

LUCENA CITY, Quezon – Government forces recovered piles of sawn lumber from illegally cut trees that were left abandoned by illegal loggers in Infanta, General Nakar and Macalelon towns, police said Sunday.

Senior Supt. Rhoderick Armamento, Quezon police provincial director, said police, Army soldiers and forest rangers from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) found 135 pieces of sawn hardwood species measuring 1,600 board feet in Barangay Banugao on Saturday around 5 p.m.

Police said the composite team of government forces has been conducting anti-illegal logging operations along the Agos river in the Sierra Madre mountain ranges.

In Macalelon, policemen and members of “Task Force Kalikasan” of the local government also seized 15 pieces of sawn hardwood lumber measuring 871 board feet also on Saturday.

Police arrested Remilito Rosco as the suspected owner of the illegal forest products.

“Protection of our natural resources is a major focus of police operations in Quezon,” Armamento said.

Last week, the team of police, soldiers and forest rangers, also recovered 77 pieces of sawn hardwood lumber with an estimated volume of 10,100 board feet that were also left abandoned along Agos in Barangay Mahabang Lalim in nearby General Nakar town. Police said the seized lumber were from the northern Quezon section of the Sierra Madre.  SFM/rga