P480K worth of illegal lumber seized in Pampanga

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO—Authorities seized some P480,000 worth of Narra (Pterocarpus indicus) and Molave (Vitex parvoflira) lumber without permits from a furniture shop in Lubao town in Pampanga province, an official said on Sunday.

In the April 22 operation, the owner of King and Prince Sash and Furniture Shop in Barangay Remedios could not present cutting and transport permits, according Staff Sgt. Reynaldo Camacho, an investigator at the police’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Group.

The owner, who was arrested, has yet to identify the source of the lumber, according to Laudemir Salac, head of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) office in Pampanga.

The DENR sued the owner for violating the Revised Forestry Code or Presidential Decree No. 705.

When the scaling was completed in Sunday, the wood totaled 4,000 board feet, Salac said.