Poverty not an excuse to allow timber poaching – Isabela gov

SANTIAGO CITY, Isabela – Isabela Governor Grace Padaca on Friday warned village chiefs against tolerating illegal logging in their jurisdictions, even in the province's impoverished "forest region." "Hindi sapat na rason ang kahirapan ng buhay para kunsintihin ang illegal logging (Poverty is not a valid reason to tolerate illegal logging)," she told reporters during a visit in nearby Echague town. After defeating a dynasty that thrived on the logging industry since the height of martial law, Padaca is facing another battle, this time, against another giant called poverty. Sporting her trademark crutches that symbolize her triumph over polio disease at an early age, Padaca warned village chiefs who kept their eyes close and their mouths shut as truckloads of lumber go out of their villages. "Alam ni Kapitan yan, hindi pwedeng hindi (Village chiefs know it [illegal logging], it could not be that they don't)," she said. Task Force Illegal Logging, a composite team from the provincial government and the DENR intercepted more that 2,000 board feet of softwood and another truckload of Narra lumber last week. The rising cost of petroleum products and basic commodities, including rice, has drove people into seeking economic relief through easy but illegal means like timber poaching. Experts explained that the rising price of rice failed to trickle down to poor Isabela farmers who produce the bulk of the country's supply. Only P16 of the P36 price per kilogram of rice is returning to farmers, according to agriculturists. This means the bulk of the profit is taken by rice traders and millers. Padaca recently launched a program to combat poverty called "Kaya Natin!" (We Can!) in Echague town. The same program was adopted by the province of Pampanga and the City of Naga, known bailiwicks of the Liberal party. Padaca, priest-turned-politician Ed Panlillo and multi-awarded city mayor Jess Robredo are members of the Liberal Party. – Abe Almirol, GMANews.tv