Forest violator convicted

Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Angelo Reyes has hailed commended a Regional Trial Court judge in Bulacan for convicting another illegal logger to a maximum of six years imprisonment, saying the DENR is gaining ground in its anti-illegal logging campaign in Central Luzon .

Judge Renato Francisco of RTC branch 19, found Avelino Cartas guilty of simple theft under Article 309 of the Revised Penal Code and sentenced him to a six-year maximum jail term. 

This latest decision brought to 61 the number of convictions meted on illegal loggers since 1995. 

Reyes said the DENR has found a strong ally in the courts through Francisco and Judge Adriano, and vowed to stamp out illegal logging throughout the country even as he directed all DENR officials to mobilize forest protection officers to pursue both illegal loggers and their coddlers.

Francisco, who is fast gaining a reputation of being an "environmentalist judge" for convicting 13 illegal loggers in a row, also directed the DENR to confiscate Cartas’ forest contraband of 2,204 board feet sawn lumber worth at least P6,000 and submit report on its disposition within 30 days.

Regidor de Leon, regional executive director of DENR in Central Luzon, said Cartas was apprehended by forest operatives from the DENR local office in San Rafael. – Benny G. Enriquez