Soldiers Confiscate 70,000 Board Feet of Illegal Logs in Philippines

Soldiers and police in the Philippines recently confiscated at least 70,000 board feet of illegally cut lumber, according to the Sun.Star newspaper.

Authorities found the illegal timber in an old warehouse in the city of Bayugan, Agusan del Sur province, on the island Mindanao. The assortment of logs comprised dipterocarp (lauan), bagtikan, tangile, mayapis, and almon and was valued at about $40,529. The logs were later turned over to the Community Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) of Bayugan.

"We are helping the CENRO and the Province of Agusan del Sur in their campaign against illegal logging, especially this time that the province are experiencing natural calamities due to their denuded forest," Lieutenant Colonel Jose Leonard Gille told Sun.Star.

In December 2011, a typhoon struck the Philippines and killed thousands. Afterward, it was determined that a portion of the deaths were caused by "a tidal wave of logs" from illegally harvested hillside stands.

Major General Victor Felix said illegal logging negatively affects economic and ecological systems in the Philippines, robbing forest owners and local communities of revenues and benefits. He also reiterated his forces' efforts to carry out Executive Order 23, which bars cutting and harvesting timber in natural and secondary forests.