NBI help sought in forest ranger's killing

MANILA, Philippines - Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Ramon Paje has sought the assistance of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to take the lead in investiga-ting the killing of a forest ranger in Apayao last Friday.

Forest ranger Kennedy Eber Bayani, 46, was gunned down while manning a 24-hour DENR checkpoint on a road leading to a forested area in Marag Valley in Luna, Apayao.

He is the first casualty in DENR’s anti-illegal logging campaign, with less than two weeks after Paje assumed office last July 2.

“This latest killing exemplifies the culture of impunity that has shrouded the DENR’s effort against illegal loggers,” Paje said.

“This highlights the dangerous conditions those trying to curtail violations of environmental laws are in, be they in government or civil society, like the 1991 killing of Fr. Neri Satur while leading an anti-illegal logging drive in Bukidnon province,” he added.

Bayani was on a 6 p.m. to 12 midnight shift when gunned down at the back of the checkpoint in Barangay San Pedro. He was rushed to a nearby hospital by responding policemen called by his fellow forest rangers, but was pronounced dead on arrival.

Police recovered a caliber .45 shell at the crime scene and are now following leads in connection with the seizure of a large haul of undocumented logs in February last year in Barangay San Gregorio, another forested area in Luna, Apayao.