LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – Combined police operatives and personnel of the municipal government and Community Environment and Natural Resources (CENRO) successfully recovered some one hundred twenty-six pieces of alleged illegally sawn lumber that were abandoned by suspected illegal loggers at Talinguroy, Wangal here Wednesday.
The illegally seized swan lumber had dimensions of 2x3x10 which was valued at P37,800 based on prevailing prices of lumber in the market.
Earlier, personnel of the Municipal Environment and Natural Resources Office (MENRO) sought police assistance from the La Trinidad Municipal Police Station to verify the complaint of a concerned resident relative to an alleged land dispute in the area.
However, prior to reaching the area subject of the complaint, the combined police operatives and personnel of the MENRO and CENRO were able to discover the illegally sawn lumber that was abandoned along the road.
The recovered illegally sawn lumber were immediately brought to the CENRO Baguio for safekeeping and proper disposition while efforts are being done by the concerned authorities to identify the individuals responsible for the presence of the illegally sawn lumber in the area.
Local officials urged residents that prior to the cutting of trees and converting the same into lumber, they must first secure the required tree cutting permit from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
Further, they also called on residents to immediately report to the nearest police station the illegal cutting of trees and the illegal conversion of the same into lumber so that those responsible will be immediately apprehended for them to answer for their unlawful activities that are detrimental to the state of the town’s environment.
The Wangal watershed is one of the various communal forests in the municipality that are being preserved and protected by the municipal government to prevent further encroachments that will cause the deterioration of the state of the town’s major source of water.
The municipal government warned informal settlers in the different communal forests and watersheds that they will be booted out of the said reservations because they were not authorized to construct their houses within said forests and watersheds aside from the fact that they do not have the personality to build structures in said areas.
