THE Department of Environment and Natural Resources has sued
four persons, including a DENR official, for illegally cutting a century-old
narra tree in Iloilo.
Online news site The News Today (www.thenewstoday.info)
reported that the narra tree was cut inside the Bulabog Putian National Park in
Dingle town in Iloilo.
In a complaint filed before the Iloilo Provincial Prosecutors
Office on July 29, DENR Regional Executive Director Lormelyn Claudio charged
Jerry Bangeles, Roberto Gonzales, Helacio Prequencia and Cesar Leaban for
violating the Forestry Code, the National Integrated Protected System Act and
the Wildlife Act.
"We have been charged with many accusations in the past, and
now is the time when the perpetrators themselves whom we had filed charges had
volunteered to give their testimonies to end the abuse of our forest especially
in the Bulabog Puti-an National Park and the mountains of Dingle," Claudio said
in a statement.
Leaban is the community environment and natural resources
officer (CENRO) of Barotac Nuevo town, which supervises the 854-hectare
Bulabog-Putian National Park in Dingle town.
He has been relieved of his position and transferred to the
Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office in Negros Occidental.
The other respondents, all residents of Dingle, were accused
of being involved in cutting the narra tree on the evening of July 10 until
early morning the next day.
They were also tagged in hauling and cutting into pieces the
tree into commercial lumber reaching 1.19 cubic meters or 4,744.56 board feet
with an estimated value of P284,673.60.
In its complaint, the DENR said the narra tree is a "premium
and endangered wildlife species."
Also, the DENR launched an investigation on the possible
"negligence and involvement" of personnel of the national park and the CENRO in
Barotac Nuevo, particularly those at the licensing and permitting section.
Gonzales and Bangeles admitted involvement in the cutting of
the tree and hauling of the lumber.
Bangeles, a carpenter and chainsaw operator, said there were
at least eight persons involved in the cutting from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. However, he
insisted he was made to understand that the cutting had a permit.
Gonzales said he provided two chainsaws but said that it was
Helacio Prequencia who proposed the cutting of the narra tree.
He said Prequencia referred to Leaban as "Boss" during a
meeting at a restaurant in Dingle on July 11.
Prequencia allegedly said the "Boss" wanted them to
fast-track the cutting of the tree because he was short of funds.
Leaban's lawyer Eugenio Original denied the allegations
against his client. "He is not involved in any way in the cutting of the narra
tree and the allegations against him are false," Original said in a telephone
interview. He said Leaban was in the restaurant on July 11 but it was "by
chance."
He said Gonzales was a respondent in previous cases filed by Leaban for
illegal cutting of trees.
