22 held for illegal logging in North Cotabato

KIDAPAWAN CITY — Authorities in North Cotabato arrested on Monday afternoon 22 individuals who were caught cutting down trees inside the regional office of the Central Mindanao Agriculture Research Center (Cemiarc) of the Department of Agriculture (DA) in Barangay Amas here, police reports said. Ed Solomon, Cemiarc provincial head, said the suspects arrived in the area on Saturday when they were too busy preparing for the visit in North Cotabato of Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala. "We were told these individuals entered in an open area along the boundary of the barangays of Valdevieso in Matalam town and Amas in Kidapawan City," Solomon said. An informant told a Cemiarc staff that a number of Gemelina trees planted in the early 1990s by residents near the compound were cut down by villagers coming from the northwest portion of North Cotabato led by a certain Datu Dan Kabuat who resides in Barangay Dalapitan in Matalam town. When the police raided the area, they recovered from the site different sizes of lumber and three chainsaws. The police said Datu Kabuat and his group could not present the necessary documents as proof their cutting down of trees inside the Cemiarc lot was legal. Under questioning, Kabuat claimed the Cotabato provincial government has since given them authority to cut down trees to pave way for the planting of high-value crops, which include African palm oil, bananas, and rubber. He said their permit was issued in 2007 by then Governor Jesus Sacdalan. He, however, failed to present any documents to the arresting authorities. Cotabato Governor Lala Talinio-Mendoza did not ‘buy’ Kabuat’s alibi. "All the more the cutting of trees should be prohibited in a government lot like Cemiarc. I could not remember having given these people a permit or a go signal to cut down trees inside Cemiarc," said Mendoza. Mendoza ordered the police to further investigate the case as she urged them to file the necessary charges against Kabuat and his men. The Cemiarc, originally under the Bureau of Plant Industry, is the agriculture research arm of the DA in Southwest Mindanao. It has a land area of 448 hectares planted to several fruit-bearing trees, including mango, durian, banana, lanzones, and rambutan; and crops, including corn, rice, and vegetables. — Malu Cadelina Manar/RSJ, GMA News