City of San Fernando – Government agents seized over the weekend some P480,000 worth of Narra and Molave lumber in a raid of King and Prince Sash and Furniture shop in Barangay Remedios in Lubao, Pampanga.
Narra (Pterocarpus indicus) and Molave (Vitex parviflora) are premium wood species due to their quality, said Rommel Salac, the Provincial Environment Officer of Pampanga.
Salac said the owner of the furniture shop, identified as Rosemary Limpin, was invited for questioning.
Police Staff Sergeant Reynaldo Camacho, a member of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group Pampanga Field Unit, said a poseur buyer visited the place and found out prohibited species of wood stockpiled at the compound of Limpin.
Camacho said he saw stockpiled Narra and Molave lumber and ordered the seizure of the items measuring a total of 4,000 board feet.
“We are not lowering our guards even during this pandemic but instead we further intensified our anti-illegal logging campaign together with our law enforcement partners to check movement of illegal forest contrabands,” he said.
He said Narra and Molave were premium hardwood species because of their excellent quality, and primarily for furniture-making, and making these species a favorite target of illegal loggers.
“We are still verifying the origin of this lumber species but definitely it’s not from the province,” he said.
The DENR-PENRO has already filed criminal charges against the suspect.