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Friday, December 13, 2002
Capitol relentless on chainsaw case
By Avelyn Z. Agudon
Lawyer Jose Maria Valencia, chief of staff of Gov. Joseph Marañon, yesterday said the provincial government will exhaust all administrative remedies for the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to reconsider the order of the Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office to release the chainsaw confiscated in a forest area in Don Salvador Benedicto.
Valencia said they will ask Raoul Geollegue, DENR regional executive director, to reverse the decision of Penro chief Raul Lorilla dismissing TFI’s motion for reconsideration for lack of merit and legal basis.
But if Geollegue will affirm Lorilla’s decision, he said, they will ask Environment Sec. Elisea Gozun, who will visit Negros Occidental on Dec. 21, to look into the matter.
“We will exhaust all administrative remedies so that the confiscated chainsaw will not be released,” Valencia said.
Valencia also questioned Lorilla’s supposed failure to furnish the Governor’s Office a copy of his decision.
He said he only learned from news reports that their motion for reconsideration was dismissed.
But Lorilla said a copy of his decision was immediately submitted to Marañon’s office at around 2:30 p.m. last Wednesday.
Moreover, Valencia questioned Lorilla’s ruling that their motion has no legal basis.
“If he (Lorilla) does not understand what the forestry law means he should again read the books,” Valencia said.
Lorilla, in his order, said the fact remains that the chainsaw owned by Apolinario Antenero is covered by Timber Utilization Permit even if it was confiscated in a forest land.
He cited Section 1, Paragraph 4 of DENR’s Department Administrative Order (DAO) 25, series of 1994, which provides that “possession of chainsaw by any person within forest land not covered by a TUP shall be subjected to confiscation in favor of the government without prejudice to criminal prosecution, if evidence warrants. The owner must present proof that such chainsaw is not being used for illegal purposes.”
He said the chainsaw was not used for an illegal purpose but for cutting the mahogany trees of Jose Roy and Joselito Labrador in Brgy. Bagong Silang, Don Salvador Benedicto.
The cutting permit was issued by Severino Llamas, head of the Community Environment and Natural Resources Office. AZA
(December 13, 2002 issue)
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