Illegal logs seized in Northern Samar

CATARMAN, Northern Samar -- Illegally cut lumbers were seized in Barangay Kalangkaan in Lope De Vega town, Northern Samar.

The 20th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army based in the said town reported it was Mayor Erlinda Cinco herself who tipped the authorities about the illegal logs that were transported along the Kalangkaan river Sunday evening.

Acting on the mayor’s information, a joint team of the 20th IB led by Sergeant Diomedes Latasan, the Lope De Vega Police led by Senior Police Officer 4 Juan Cuesta and the town’s Municipal Environment and Natural resources officer Jojo Casco raided the area.

The authorities found the lumbers stacked along the river around 6:30 p.m. Sunday. The owner abandoned the logs when the authorities arrived.

The seized lumbers were mostly “lawaan” cut in different sizes and have a market value of P256,608, said Kenneth Yves Salon, chief of the Forest Protection and Law Enforcement Unit of the Environment department here.

The seized illegal logs were brought to the municipal covered court in Lope De Vega and will be turned over to the Environment office.

The forested area in Lope De Vega is part of the Samar Island Biodiversity Project of the government. (Leyte Samar Daily Express)