Pamplona, Cagayan”•More than 2,491 board feet of illegally cut lumbers worth P62,265 were confiscated by police operatives in this town, as the municipal government intensifies its campaign against rampant illegal logging in the area.
The Police Regional Office 2 said the lumber, which were loaded in a motorized boat, were intercepted by the Pamplona police while conducting a patrol in Barangay Tabba, in collaboration with the local government unit here and a team from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
Police Brig. Gen. Jose Mario Espino, PRO2 director, identified the suspect transporting the lumber in assorted sizes as Silvester Aquitana, 45, a resident of Barangay Cabbagan in Pamplona.
Espino said a case is being prepared against Aquitana for violation of Presidential Decree 705 or the Revised Forestry Code of the Philippines.
The confiscated lumber were temporarily placed under the custody of village officials in Tabba, Pamplona, who will hand over the products to the DENR for proper disposition.