BUTUAN CITY – Police have seized 29,314.10 board feet of undocumented lumber worth P1.4 million in the intensified drive against illegal logging in Surigao del Sur and Agusan del Sur provinces.
POLICE inventory illegally cut logs in Surigao del Sur. (Photo courtesy of PRO 13-PIO via Mike U. Crismundo)
Police Regional Office-13 Director Police Brig. Gen. Pablo G. Labra II said this all-out forest protection drive from May 15 to 21 also led to the arrest of one suspect who is now facing charges in relation to Presidential Decree 705 or the Forestry Code of the Philippines.
Labra said these achievements were made possible through the partnership of the local police, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), and the community.
The PRO-13 Regional Operations Division said the Surigao del Sur Police Provincial Office (PPO) confiscated 5,239.66 board feet of undocumented lumber worth P822,003 while the Agusan del Sur PPO seized 23,272.85 board feet of illegally cut logs valued at P551,487.
The Regional Mobile Force Battalion 13 confiscated 588.59 board feet of undocumented lumber worth P26,486.55 and the Surigao del Norte PPO seized 213 board feet of illegally cut logs valued at P8,533.
“The focus of our police operations does not solely revolve around the arrest of criminals, eradication of illegal drugs, and neutralization of the Communist Terrorist Group,” Labra said.“We also give utmost priority to the protection and preservation of our natural resources especially our forest areas because these gifts of nature are vital for the survival of humankind.”
These illegally cut logs comprised of different band species such as Lauan are temporarily held in designated depository areas in the Caraga.