In Bicol, execs point to seized logs as trophies

LEGAZPI CITY—The campaign against illegal logging in Bicol gained headway after hardwood amounting to P2.5 million were seized last year by the Regional Anti-Illegal Logging Task Force (RAILTF), a ranking Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) official said on Friday.

Joselin Marcus Fragada, DENR regional executive director, quoted a Forest Management Service yearend report saying 192 anti-illegal logging operations were carried out in 2011 that resulted in the confiscation of 476.22 cubic meters or 201,812.853 board feet of hardwood valued at P2,531,65.80.

He said the series of seizures of illegally cut trees and subsequent filing of cases against the suspects were due to the intensified anti-illegal logging campaign initiated by the agency in close coordination with the RAILTF.

Fragada said the significant results could be credited to the creation of the RAILTF on May 17, 2011.