DENR-7 gets tough vs hot logs

The newly-installed head of the Dept. of Environment and Natural Resources in Central Visayas vows to go tough against the shipment of illegal logs in the region.

Regional executive director Isabelo Montejo said during his formal assumption of the top environment post in the region that strengthening the Anti-Illegal Logging Task Force is on top of his list to stop the traffic of illegal logs from Mindanao to the region.

Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo meanwhile, ordered last Wednesday the investigation of five Agusan del Sur mayors, namely Leonida Manpatilan (Esperanza town), Ronaldo Corvera (San Luis), Isaias Masendo (Talacogon) and Ambrosio Lim (La Paz) after about P16 million worth of illegal logs were confiscated in the Agusan River last week.

Montejo said Cebu and other parts of the region are just “recipients of illegal logs.”

The environment department has been cracking down on illegal logging in Caraga region in northeastern Mindanao and the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao after reports of massive violations of Executive Order 23 which bans all logging activities in natural growth forests.

“DENR cannot do it alone. I know the sources of these undocumented wood. I know the suppliers and I have records to show,” said Montejo.

Montejo’s predecessor Maximo Dichoso had ordered the closure of 138 timber processing plants and lumberyards earlier this month for failure to comply with government requirements.

Dichoso has been moved to head the environment department in Region 3, based in San Fernando, Pampanga.

Montejo also seeks to review DENR-7’s structure to determine whether it is still responsive in addressing environmental concerns and programs of the region.

“I would like to formally create an executive committee to help me lead DENR-7,” Montejo told CEBU DAILY NEWS.

Comprising the execom are four regional technical directors, two regional directors of line bureaus, service chiefs of the region, and heads of Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office and Community Environment and Natural Resources Office, Montejo added.

Environment secretary Ramon Paje said the movement of regional directors is part of the department’s organizational development.

In a visit here last Monday, Paje lauded the performance of the DENR-7 as a model in environmental protection and conservation.

Paje said the campaign against illegal logging is important as it has contributed to the country’s strong performance in the Global Environment Performance Index (EPI).

Among the Philippine government programs cited by the EPI as the source of the country’s strong performance are the log ban in natural growth forests, the National Greening Program, subsidies for lowland and upland agriculture and air pollution reduction.

Montejo holds a doctorate in Public Administration from the University of the Visayas. He also holds a degree in Bachelor of Science in Forestry.

Before his new post Montejo was Regional Technical Director for Forestry and has been in service for almost 17 years./With Inquirer reports