OFFICIALS of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) have seized lumbers in a series of anti-illegal logging campaign last week in the provinces of Zamboanga del Sur and Zamboanga del Norte.
The DENR said in a statement that two of the apprehensions were made through the Community Environment and Natural Resources Office (Cenro) of Guipos, Zamboanga del Sur headed by Mario Reyes.
The Cenro-Guipos seized some 490 board feet of undocumented Gemelina lumber worth P17,150 along the highway of Diplo village, Kumalarang, Zamboanga del Sur.
The lumbers, which were cut at the reforestation project of DENR, were stockpiled and abandoned along the highway.
The DENR said the other apprehension of Cenro-Guipos was in Poblacion village, San Pablo, Zamboanga del Sur.
The Cenro-Guipos Quick Response Team (QRT), with the assistance of the police, seized 166 board feet of Bakan flitches worth P8,300 and apprehended four undocumented Bakan flitches being ferried aboard a motorcycle taxi.
The driver, whose name has been withheld, and the motorcycle taxi, were taken to the police station of San Pablo, while the seized forest products were brought to Cenro-Guipos for safekeeping and proper disposition.
The DENR said the Cenro of Manukan, Zamboanga del Norte, headed by Christopher Babaran, and backed by policemen intercepted some P9,794 worth of illegally cut lumbers aboard a tricycle in Punta National Highway, Katipunan, Zamboanga del Norte.
Meanwhile, Cenro chief Dionisio Rago of Liloy, Zamboanga del Norte, backed by policemen, seized 429.04 board feet worth P25,760.40 of illegally cut Apitong and Lauan lumbers in Sandayong village, Tampilisan, in the same province.
The apprehension was made during the conduct of monitoring and patrol in Sandayong village as part of the anti-illegal logging campaign of Cenro-Liloy.
The DENR said appropriate charges are set to be filed against those behind the cutting and transport of illegally cut lumbers. (SunStar Zamboanga)