Editorial: After the DENR sacking, who’s next?
-A A +ASunday, July 1, 2012
SO the regional director of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources 11 (DENR) Jim Sampulna along with technical director Hardinado Patungot, Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Officers Marcia Isip of Davao del Norte, Gregorio Lagura of Davao Oriental, and Julius Valdez of Compostela, and Cenro-Davao City (West) Napoleon Paje, Davao City (East) Melchor Ozaraga, Robinson Camacho (Baganga), Basilio Caralos (Lupon), Restituta Dime (Mati), Dioscor Gavarra (Manay), Marvin Parilla (Maco), Victor Billones (Monkayo), and Antonio Inguillo (Nabunturan) were relieved along with 18 other DENR officials from Caraga were sacked for failure to stop illegal logging in their areas.
This is aside from 32 employees who were either dismissed or suspended, 34 charged of various offenses, and 176 still under investigation as of May.
That’s some action that took a long time to happen. Are we hearing the sacking of police and military officers and their subordinates soon?
We’re hoping, and although we doubt it, we insist that they should be next on the block.
Illegal logging as an activity cannot prosper and sustain without protection not just from the environment and natural resources officers, who are officially unarmed, but the forces as well who have the arms. No big money-making operations that thrive on the corrupt and the corruptible cannot be sustained without arms to threaten, maim, and kill the incorruptible.
We just hope that the action by DENR Secretary Ramon Paje will be replicated in kind by the police and military officials in these areas.
In a national tabloid, Paje was quoted as saying, “I have deputized the military, police, the Coast Guard and the Marina to join the campaign, yet some loggers manage to get away. To me, this is no longer acceptable. What is emerging is that there’s connivance on the ground. This will not happen if it’s not tolerated by the local government unit, police, and the DENR.”
True, very true. Are we seeing similar actions then from all other authorities that operate within and around forests?
Published in the Sun.Star Davao newspaper on July 02, 2012.
Opinion
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