DENR to go after sawmills in Southern Mindanao

DAVAO CITY, Philippines – The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is bent on going after illegal loggers by pursuing sawmills operating in Southern Mindanao.

This, after a series of seizures of illegal logs has taken place in the region in the past few months despite the implementation of Executive Order 23, which imposes an indefinite moratorium on the cutting and harvesting of timber all over the country.

DENR-Region 11 director Joselin Marcus Fragada said there are at least 158 registered sawmills in the region although only 70 of them are operational in the provinces of Davao Oriental, Davao del Norte, Compostela Valley and Davao del Sur.

Fragada said the sawmills will soon be thoroughly inspected to check if they comply with the requirements for their continued operations, and those with violations will be closed.

Meanwhile, an aerial view of Liboganon River in Barangay Florida, Kapalong, Davao del Norte showed an almost four kilometer-long chain of illegally cut logs that reportedly came from the hinterlands and being transported through the river.

The more than 1,000 logs, mostly lawaan with an estimated volume of 300 cubic meters and valued at P2.4 million, were confiscated by the Anti-Illegal Logging Task Force this week.

The task force is composed of representatives of the DENR, the Army’s 10th Infantry Division, and the Southern Mindanao police.

Concerned citizens reported the presence of the logs reportedly being transported by lumads (tribal folk) from the hinterlands of Agusan del Sur and Bukidnon.