CITY OF ILAGAN, Isabela — The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in Cagayan Valley region has condemned “in the strongest terms” the killing of two of its environment workers in the coastal town of Dinapigue in Isabela.
The officers and employees, led by lawyer and regional executive director Gil Aromin, said in a media statement that they are “angered and outraged by the inhumane and barbaric attack” to DENR Palanan forest ranger Marcial Pattaguan and job-order laborer and Dumagat native Bronsel Impiel.
The two men were among a team of workers initiating boundary demarcation works at the Northern Sierra Madre Natural Park when repeatedly shot by unidentified killers in Ayod, Dinapigue on Tuesday.
“Our hearts go to the families of Pattaguan and Impiel, who were brutally killed in the line of duty,” the DENR regional workers’ statement said, adding that the killers’ act is “cowardice.”
Aromin told reporters on Thursday that he has called on the Dinapigue police and the National Bureau of Investigation to “bring speedy justice to those responsible of this terrible crime.”
“We earnestly call on the local government units and law enforcement agencies to intensify their security measures for our employees who have devoted their lives for the protection of the environment,” he added. (/PNA)
