(HOT LUMBER. Lumber from hardwood species seized by DENR. Photo Courtesy of DENR-3)
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – About 6,000 board feet of illegally sourced lumber of premium hardwood species worth more than a million pesos was seized by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in Nueva Ecija.
Premium species of yakal, lauan and molave were found inside a one-hectare compound in Barangay Langla, Jaen without the necessary documents, DENR regional director Paquito T. Moreno Jr said.
“With the help of the Philippine Army and Philippine National Police, we raided the compound by virtue of a search warrant issued by Executive Judge Celso Baguio of Gapan City,” Moreno said.
“These species are banned for cutting and obviously they are illegally sourced from our remaining natural forest in the Sierra Madre mountain range,” he added.
Moreno said the raided compound fronts as a hardware/ construction outlet registered under one Jocelyn Flaminiano but turned out to be a wood processing facility.
“We are not tolerating our lumber dealer permit holders to use illegally sourced forest products for their business,” Moreno stressed.
The DENR believes that the Flaminiano group controls about 60 percent of the trading of illegally sourced lumber from the Sierra Madre mountain range in Aurora, Nueva Ecija, and Bulacan and this illegal practice has been going on for the last 10 years.
The DENR said illegal forest products come from the Sierra Madre Mountain range in Dona Remedios Trinidad in Bulacan which pass through the river system of Sumacbao to General Tinio in Nueva Ecija.
“We are serious in our campaign to curb once and for all any illegal forest activities and checking illegal market outlets of lumber is one of the best way to stop it,” Moreno explained.
It was learned that there are 12 registered lumber dealerships in Nueva Ecija or a total of 316 in Central Luzon.
The DENR is now preparing criminal and administrative charges to be filed against the owner of the wood processing facility.
If proven guilty, the offender could face imprisonment of more than 10 years under Articles 309 and 310 of the Revised Penal Code for violation of section 77 of Presidential Decree 705 as amended or the Revised Forestry Code involving possession of illegal sourced forest products.
