“We enjoin all concerned agencies and sectors to accept the call in protecting the remaining forest cover of the country,” PENRO Chief Emelita Lingat said during the recent meeting of the Provincial Anti-Illegal Logging Task Force (PAILTF) here.
“It is our obligation to protect the ecosystem. It is our goal to preserve biodiversity and protect threatened habitats,” she added.
According to the Philippine Information Agency (PIA) Region 3, members of the PAILTF have pledged to strengthen efforts to curb illegal logging in identified hotspots in the towns of Camiling, San Jose and Capas through a 24-hour monitoring and conduct of information, education and communication campaign activities on forestry laws, rules and regulations.
The PIA –R3 said the creation of PAILTF is pursuant to President Aquino’s Executive Order 23 which declares a moratorium on cutting and harvesting of timber in natural and residual forests.
PAILTF members include representatives from the provincial offices of the Department of the Interior and Local Government, Philippine National Police, National Commission on Indigenous Peoples and the PIA.
Representatives from the Northern Luzon Command of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Municipal Environment and Natural Resources Offices, and local media are also part of TAILTF.
