Skipping Fines, Authorities in Philippines Order Loggers to Plant Trees

A court in the Philippines has ordered five illegal loggers to plant 1,000 to 3,000 trees each instead of serving jail terms, according to The Gulf Today.

The five loggers pled guilty to illegal logging complaints filed against them by the country's Department of Environment and Natural Resources. In addition to planting trees, the court ordered them to tend the seedlings for at least three years. If they fail in that, they could end up yet serving prison time. The illegal logging occurred in provinces of Nueva Vizcaya in the Northern Luzon highlands and Aurora in Central Luzon.

In related news, a regional police chief on the island Mindanao was recently relieved from duty for failing to stop about $300,000 worth of illegally cut logs, which were eventually seized while being transported to a sawmill on the island. Also, on July 23, Philippines President Benigno Aquino reiterated that the country's government would no longer tolerate illegal logging.