COTABATO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Mar. 20, 2013) – Security forces clashed with suspected illegal loggers on Tuesday in the southern Philippines, but there were no reports of casualties on both sides, officials said.
Officials said army soldiers and pro-government militias were securing illegally cut logs and lumber in the town of Bagumbayan in Sultan Kudarat province when they came under fire.
Army Col. Edmundo Pangilinan said dozens of armed men fired on the troops and tried to retrieve the logs, but they failed. He said villagers have previously tipped off the military and the police about the illegal logging in the area, particularly in hinterland village of Kabulanan.
Because of the reports, soldiers, headed by Lt. Col. Marlou Guloy, of the 46th Infantry Battalion, were sent to patrol the area along with the police and governmet foresters until they tumbled on the logs estimated around 300,000 board feet.
The piles of logs occupied a stretch eight kilometers long and due to the huge number of logs, authorities have requested cargo trucks to haul it all off.
It was not immediately known who wa behind the nefarious activities, but the military deployed more soldiers to track down the illegal loggers.(Ferdinandh Cabrera)
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