P700T worth of illegal lumber apprehended in Agusan Sur

BUTUAN CITY— As the crackdown against illegal logging operators and timber poachers in the region intensified, the Environmental Law Enforcement Task Force apprehended on Thursday more than 40,000 board feet of fresh-cut lauan flitches worth about P700,000 at a remote barangay in New Gingoog in Esperanza, Agusan del Sur. DENR Caraga Regional Executive Director Leonardo R. Sibbaluca said the seizure of the illegal lumber followed a three day surveillance operation made by the task force responsible for effecting Executive Order No. 23, an order issued by President Benigno S. Aquino III. The order is for a total log ban in natural and residual forests nationwide. “There has been no let-up in our campaign against illegal-logging in these off-limits areas of the forest since the ban took effect on February 1 this year," Sibbaluca said. The seized undocumented lumber was being piled up by a group of hired workers when the task force moved in to catch the suspected illegal loggers at a secluded place in the barangay known as a “hot spot" of illegal logs in Agusan del Sur. The report said the workers scampered off in different directions when they sensed the presence of government operatives. According to Director Sibbaluca, this area could be the same location where the apprehended illegal lumber-loaded 10-wheeler trucks were intercepted by the DENR operatives at the Macapagal bridge in Butuan City on Tuesday. The Legal Division of the DENR headed by Atty. Claudio A. Nistal is preparing to file necessary charges against the illegal loggers. They are to be charged with violation of PD 705. The charges are to be filed with the proper court. — AYA/TJD, GMA News