Combined operatives of the provincial office of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) here and the Crime Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) of the Philippine National Police (PNP) based in Pampanga recently apprehended more than P480,000 worth of illegally source premium lumber of Narra (Pterocarpus indicus) and Molave (Vitex parviflora) from a furniture shop in Lubao town, this province.

 

According to police staff Sgt. Reynaldo Camacho, investigator from CIDG, their agents who posed as buyers were able to buy illegally sawn lumbers to a certain Josemary Limpin in the King and Prince Sash and Furniture Shop in Barangay Remedios in Lubao town.

 

"The suspect, who also owned the sash and furniture shop was arrested while the illegal cut lumbers were seized and apprehended in the operation for failure of the owner to show legal documents" he said.

 

According to Laudemir Salac, provincial environment and natural resources officer (PENRO) in Pampanga, over 4,000 board feet of illegally sourced lumbers of Narra and Molave were apprehended by the combined operatives of PENRO and CIDG.

 

"We are not lowering our guards even during this pandemic but instead we further intensified our anti-illegal logging campaign to check movement of illegal forest contrabands", he explained.

 

He said Narra and Molave are premium hardwood species because of their excellent wood quality primarily for furniture industry, as such 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 clarified.

 

The DENR- PENRO has already filed criminal charges against the suspect for violating the Revised Forestry Code of the Philippines (PD 705). (-30-)

 

 

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) here led yesterday an online forum to underscore the importance of biodiversity protection and conservation and the benefits of responsible mining in support of the annual celebration of Earth Day.

 

In his message, Arturo Fadriquela., deputy director for management service of DENR in Central Luzon, stressed that more than being an environmental event, Earth Day’s celebration was fundamental in establishing a local movement to combat biodiversity loss, climate change, and other environmental problems.

 

“Biodiversity loss, climate change, air and water pollution, plastic pollution, and forest degradation have broken our natural systems, leading to new and fatal diseases. These painfully remind us of the harm we’ve caused to our environment, and challenge us at the same time to bring back the integrity of our environment,” Fadriquela said.

 

Earth Day is commemorated every April 22 of each year to promote clean living and a healthy and sustainable habitat for people and wildlife.

 

This year, the theme, “Doing our Fair Share to Restore the Earth,” centers on promoting natural processes, emerging green technologies, and innovative thinking that can restore the world’s ecosystems. It also calls for our collective responsibility to protect and save this only livable planet in the solar system.

 

Fadriquela noted that restoring and replenishing the environment into its healthy state is a necessity.

 

He challenged participants, particularly Environment and Natural Resources (ENR) Ambassadors in Central Luzon, to spread awareness in schools and local communities and to motivate people to adopt ways for sustainable living.

 

“Plant trees, conserve water and energy, reduce, reuse and recycle your wastes are some simple and practical ways we can do to restore our planet, after all the earth is our collective responsibility,” Fadriquela added.

 

The first Earth Day was celebrated in 1970 in the United States, where more than 20 million people gathered together to push government institutions to legislate laws that promote a clean and safe living environment, thus protecting the Earth on local, state, and national levels.

 

Apart from this virtual forum, the DENR has also put up a booth dubbed as “Community PLANTREE” in its regional office, where 130 seedlings of Avocado, Sampaloc Duhat Mangga, Rambutan, Guyabano, Bignai, Narra, Fire Tree, Molave, and Bitaog seedling were given free to residents of nearby community to promote urban greening and environmental stability, and address issue of food security amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

The project is inspired by the famous “community pantry” movement all over the country where people are allowed to donate and get food for free.

 

More than 1,800 board feet of illegally sourced premium dipterocarp lumbers worth over P84,000 were seized and apprehended on Tuesday by the forest protection team of the Community Environment and Natural Resources (CENRO) based in Guiguinto, Bulacan.

 

Emelita Lingat, Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Officer (PENRO) in Bulacan, said the illegal lumbers composed of Yakal, Guijo and Tangile species were apprehended in a sash factory found in Barangay Tumana in Sta. Maria town.

 

"We have intensified our monitoring and surveillance not only in our forests area but also to lumber establishments in the province to check of any forest contraband," she explained.

 

Rolly Mulato, head of CENRO in Guiguinto, Bulacan identified the suspect as Emiliano Jacinto, owner of the sash factory.

 

"Upon inspection of our team, the owner failed to show any legal documents for the possession of such forest products," he said.

 

He added that his office is now preparing to file criminal charges against the suspect for violating the Revised Forestry Code of the Philippines or Presidential Decree (PD) No. 705.

 

Paquito Moreno, Jr., executive director of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in Central appealed to the public to report to the nearest DENR office in their area of any illegal forest activities or call hotline 0945-368-5303.

 

"Protecting our forests is a challenging task for the DENR. The support and cooperation of our community is vital to our campaign against illegal logging," he said.

 

According to study, the dipterocarp species belongs to premium hardwood and is among the favorite target of timber poachers because of the expensive price of its lumber due to its excellent wood quality. (-30-)

Two endemic Northern Luzon giant cloud rats scientific (Phloeomys pallidus) or locally known as Bu-ot were rescued recently in the towns of San Rafael and Doña Remedios Trinidad (DRT), this province in an effort to protect and save biodiversity.

 

According to Morgan Gallego, chief of the forest protection unit of CENRO Baliwag, a certain Edmund dela Cruz, resident of San Rafael town reported to their office the presence of this wild animal in their area.

 

He said the CENRO forest protection team conducted a successful rescue operation on the wildlife on Thursday.

 

Meanwhile, another Northern Luzon giant cloud rat was also rescued on the same day in an abandoned house in Barangay Camachile in DRT.

 

Upon examination, the CENRO team found out that the wildlife had no injury and were healthy.

 

The two wildlife were immediately released at the more than 2,000-hectare Biak na Bato National Park in San Miguel, Bulacan.

 

Dennis Vergara, head of CENRO Baliwag urged the public to report to the nearest environment authorities in their area any illegal wildlife activities.

 

He also warned the public to refrain from catching and eating wildlife meat or bushmeat to prevent the spread of zoonotic disease.

 

According to study, the Northern Luzon giant cloud rat is a timid, forest-dwelling animals with long and rough fur, and is endemic to the island of Luzon where it is found in the northern and central provinces.

 

The giant cloud rats are primarily tree-dwelling, spending most of their time high in the branches and it can sometimes be seen moving slowly along the forest floor searching for food, the research added.

 

Republic Act 9147 or the wildlife protection and conservation law of 2001 prohibits the killing, destroying, trading, collecting, hunting or possessing wildlife, their by-products and derivatives. (-30-)

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) here together with DENR Strategic Communication and Initiative Service (SCIS) based in Quezon City held yesterday a virtual environmental youth summit to strengthen partnership with Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) officials in a bid to boost environmental protection and conservation.

 

Benny Antiporda, Undersecretary for Solid Waste Management and Local Government Units Concerned said the youth summit was participated in by some 18 SK federation presidents in Pampanga to boost environmental protection, especially solid waste management in the province.

 

"Solid waste management is one of our challenging environmental problems. Aside from banning plastic, we can change the behavior of the public, and our SK as young leaders can greatly help us to influence their constituents and communities towards proper waste management,” he explained.

 

The Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) projected that Central Luzon will be generating 15.3 million tons of solid wastes from 2020 to 2025.

 

According to Paquito Moreno, Jr., executive director of DENR in Central Luzon, the youth has a critical role in the protection of air, water, forest, and even wildlife.

“Protecting our environment is a challenging task and we admit that the DENR cannot do it alone. Our youth is vital in spreading the message of environmentalism to their community,” he said.

 

He also appealed to the youth to maximize social media in advocating for the value of protecting the environment and natural resources.

 

The SK federation presidents vowed to support the different environmental programs of the DENR in the province.

 

Important environmental issues and problems were discussed in the summit including ecological solid waste management, global warming and climate change, and the continuing efforts to save Manila Bay, said Laudemir Salac, Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Officer (PENRO) in Pampanga. (-30-)