By JOJO DE GUZMAN

DINGALAN, Aurora —DENR officials from Central Luzon appealed Monday to Secretary Jose L. Atienza Jr. to lift the suspension of log retrieval operations of a mini-sawmill operator and a local cooperative.

Regidor de Leon, Central Luzon regional executive director, appealed to Atienza to lift the suspension of the July 30,2007 retrieval permit issued by former secretary Angelo Reyes to Siriporn Enterprises and the Southern Dingalan Multi-Purpose Cooperative (SDMPC).

De Leon said the two firms’ operations did not violate any terms and conditions of the permits nor any laws, rules and regulations of the department.

Meliton Vicente, DENR community environment and natural resources officer, said that a four-man monitoring team from his office had executed an affidavit attesting that they have not seen any irregularity in the operations Siriporn and SDMPC.

Atienza suspended the permit of the two, citing "substantial evidence" of illegal logging. Atienza also revoked the September 5,2007 provisional mini-sawmill permit issued to Siriporn.