By Ellalyn de Vera-Ruiz
A joint operation by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has led to the arrest of four individuals who were caught transporting ₱3.2 million worth of agarwood, a threatened tree species whose fragrant dark resinous wood is used in incense and perfume.
National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) (MANILA BULLETIN)
The four arrested, identified as Ramil Ong, Bernie Bagay, Rizal Mofar and Arjhun Gaviola, were apprehended in two separate operations conducted by the DENR’s Environmental Protection and Enforcement Task Force (EPETF) and the NBI-Environmental Crime Division in Pasig City and Cainta, Rizal last June 8.
The environmental enforcers seized from the suspects almost 20 kilos of agarwood valued at ₱3.2 million.
Agarwood is one of the most expensive raw materials used in perfumery, costing at least ₱160,000 per kilo in the Philippines.
Rogelio Demelletes Jr., a senior ecosystems management specialist and member of EPETF, said that based on their initial investigation, the seized agarwood shipments were of high-grade quality and likely poached from the forests of Mindanao, particularly Surigao and Agusan provinces.
Agarwood is extracted from host trees locally known as Lapnisan and Lanete, which are both included in the national list of threatened Philippine plants per DENR Administrative Order 2007-01.
According to Demelletes, a high-grade agarwood can be sold for as high as US$30,000 per kilo and its trafficking has spawned indiscriminate cutting of Lanete and Lapnisan trees.
DENR Secretary Roy Cimatu lauded the DENR and NBI enforcers for their unrelenting efforts to go after environmental criminals despite the quarantine restrictions and other measures imposed to contain the spread of coronavirus disease.
“This clearly sends out the message that the government’s campaign against environmental offenders remains unrelenting despite a pandemic that is wreaking havoc worldwide,” Cimatu said.
The four suspects were charged with violations of Republic Act 9147 or the Wildlife Resources and Protection Act and Presidential Decree 705, otherwise known as the Revised Forestry Code of the Philippines.
They are detained at the NBI detention facility in Manila while awaiting court proceedings.