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Atienza orders auction of logs seized in Isabela

ILIGAN CITY, ISABELA -- Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Lito Atienza ordered Thursday the auction of illegally cut logs seized recently by a composite team of Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Isabela provincial government personnel and police and military units.

"The contraband logs will be sold to the highest bidder on ‘as is, where is’ basis," Atienza said.

"We do not relish this task. But rather than leaving the seized logs exposed to the elements and eventually rendered useless, steps must be taken to make the contraband timber serve a productive purpose."

The illegally cut logs, worth nearly P3 million, were cut by poachers at the Northern Sierra Madre Natural Park. Confiscated were 2,059 pieces of assorted hardwood (narra, red lauan, tanguile), measuring 158,618 board feet.

Atienza also commended Isabela Gov. Grace Padaca for her vigilance and determination to protect the natural wealth of Isabela.

Padaca has been waging an uphill battle against decades-old illegal logging activities in Isabela, particularly in a logging town where many residents earn their livelihood as atcheros (chain saw operators) and bogaderos (log transporters).

"Governor Padaca’s effort not only addresses the very critical issues on why Isabela’s natural wealth should be protected for the benefit of the majority but seeks to put the socio-political and economic dynamics of the province in their proper perspective. Indeed her stateswomanship makes her larger than life for us all in government service to emulate," Atienza said.

The DENR chief also asked top officials of the Armed Forces and the Philippine National Police to extend all possible assistance to Padaca’s campaign to enforce environmental laws.

The lady governor was deputized recently by Atienza as environment and natural officer, a position which gives her the authority to arrest and file charges against violators of environmental laws.

Part of the proceeds of the sale of confiscated logs will fund the efforts of Governor Padaca in her campaign against timber poaching in Isabela’s forested towns located within the 359,846-hectare natural park. Padaca firmly adheres to the protection and preservation of Isabela’s natural park because water from its forests irrigates the province’s ricefields which now produce more rice than Nueva Ecija, previously considered as the country’s rice granary.