Gov’t execs warned on illegal logging in Sierra Madre mountains

ILAGAN, Isabela – Gov. Grace Padaca warned politicians, police and environment personnel behind, or in cahoots with illegal logging financiers in the province that “the law would finally catch up on them.”

This, after some 10 million more board feet of illegally cut forest trees were reported littered in the Sierra Madre mountains, a mute witness to the rampant and wanton rape of the province’s remaining forestland.

This conservative estimate came as the provincial government’s anti-illegal logging task force aborted the transshipment of around 750,000 board feet of hot lumber last week, which brought to more than 1.5 million board feet of the illegally sourced forest products in less than a year.

“The estimated 10 million board feet are still in the mountains waiting to be brought down. And that is only for the year 2008. How about the year before that, in 2007, 2006, 2005, and all the (past decades)?” asked Gov. Grace Padaca.

Earlier, Padaca, fresh from conducting an aerial survey of the northern Sierra Madre mountains here, said the cut lumber from the illegally felled trees within the vast supposedly national government-protected mountain park may even reach more than 100 million board feet.

On June 9, Padaca’s task force confiscated more than 300,000 of hardwood in San Mariano town here. Such confiscation is said to be the country’s biggest single haul of hot lumber in recent years.

This came a day after the same task force was also able to seize a combine 120 board feet of illegal lumber in two separate operations, also in San Mariano town, where 200,000 board feet more of hot lumber have been discovered last Thursday June 4.

Now on her second term as governor, Padaca said she would not care less if her drive against illegal logging would cost her reelection bid in next year’s elections as a result of stepping on the toes of some influential persons in her desire to finally put an end to the age-old outlawed forest activities here.

“With my two small feet, I will stand my ground. To educate our people and free them from the selfish interests of those who have long been exploiting them (through illegal logging operations),” said Padaca, who walks with crutches due to polio.

She said there would be no grace or clemency to whoever is caught, whether small or big-time illegal logger, whoever their connections are, or regardless of how influential they may be. -- CL