DENR dismantles 161 ‘nonessential’ checkpoints

Environment officials have dismantled some 161 of 274 roadside checkpoints found ineffective in catching undocumented timber. The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said this was in line with Secretary Ramon Paje's order to limit the number of checkpoints only to the most strategic locations. “The dismantling of non-critical checkpoints will give more muscle to internal and external control mechanism for monitoring the effectiveness and integrity of these checkpoints as this demonstrates this administration’s resolve to take strict and prompt disciplinary measures to stop systemic corruption in the service," Paje said in an article posted on the Official Gazette. Paje’s order stemmed from complaints of timber firms that DENR personnel manning these checkpoints had been mulcting money from them despite their permits. On the other hand, the DENR said many of the retained checkpoints are those in roads leading in and out of protected areas where cutting is banned. The others are mobile or “unannounced" checkpoints that are set up on short notice, based on spot reports or intelligence information provided by local police and military authorities and concerned civic groups. The easing of checkpoints in non-critical areas is also a gesture of confidence-building, which Paje is extending to wood-based firms comprising the Philippine Wood Producers Association (PWPA). The PWPA has been leading the call for the DENR to reexamine its forestry-related policies and regulations, especially on checkpoints. "I want to reduce the transaction cost," Paje had told PWPA members during their 59th general assembly last August. He was referring to a report that some PWPA members are spending as much as P50,000 per month for their “checkpoint expenses." Meanwhile, Paje called on timber firms to install closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras in their wood processing facilities to prove they are not buying undocumented timber in exchange for his move to remove the non-critical checkpoints. “With the CCTV cameras, we can also easily identify if they are processing illegally cut timber because natural forest logs are much bigger than those that were planted in plantations," Paje said. Plantation logs are round-shaped, measuring about 15 to 16 inches in diameter while logs from natural forests are bigger and irregularly shaped at around 27 to 28 inches in diameter. Vowing to “run after my people," Paje sought PWPA members’ help in reviving the country’s wood industry by dutifully abiding by the terms and conditions of their permits and staying within DENR’s regulations. Paje urged the wood producers not to treat erring DENR people as “little tyrants," and asked PWPA leadership to likewise penalize erring PWPA members that are “not toeing the line." “This duty must be two-way," he said. Last month, Paje issued Memorandum Order No. 9 banning the acceptance and processing of new applications for timber contracts seeking to cut trees inside natural forest. In an e-mail note, PWPA president Antonio Olizon described the 59 percent drop as “a substantial decrease in the number of checkpoints," even as he suggested certain measures to ensure the effectiveness of the checkpoints’ entry-exit system to track the arrival and departure of their wood products. “Checkpoints should be equipped with official or registered logbooks so every truck or towing details will be recorded and signed by them and can be audited by other DENR officials without tampering the records," Olizon noted. He stressed the operation of checkpoints should be placed under a system of check and balance that will look into their activities and records, preferably by a third party.—JV, GMANews.TV