PUERTO PRINCESA CITY, Palawan — Environment authorities in the northern Palawan town of Taytay have vowed to step up their patrol and monitoring operations against illegal loggers as they turned over another batch of 23 unregistered chainsaws to the Palawan Council for Sustainable Development (PCSD).
Voltaire delos Angeles, Community Environment and Natural Resources Office-Quick Response Team (CENRO-QRT) team leader in Taytay, said Thursday they turned over the chainsaws to the PCSD’s Environmental Critical Areas Network-Regulatory Enforcement Division (ECAN-RED).
“Second batch na ito ng mga tinurn-over na unregistered, tampered, at assembled chainsaws. Noong una pa may nauna na din kaming na-turn over na 15 units (This is the second batch of unregistered, tampered, and assembled chainsaws that we’ve turned over. We have also turned over 15 units before),” he said.
Delos Angeles noted that most of the owners of the first batch of 15 units have already undergone judicial inquiries for the filing of illegal logging cases in the municipality of Taytay.
The turnover of the chainsaws, he said, symbolizes the commitment of CENRO in Taytay to run after owners, who use their chainsaws to devastate the forests.
“Hindi kami titigil sa responsibility namin na pangalagaan ang kalikasan sa Taytay. Bawal sa Chain Saw Act of 2002 ang pagkakaroon ng ganitong gamit na hindi nire-rehistro (We will not stop to protect the forest lands of Taytay. Under the Chainsaw Act of 2002, it is prohibited to have unregistered chainsaws),” he added.
Under the Act, possessing a chainsaw without the proper permit and is used for illegal logging and forest destruction shall be punished with four to six years imprisonment, and a fine of not less than PHP15,000 but not more than PHP30,000. (Celeste Anna Formoso/PNA)
