MAGUINDANAO PROVINCE (Mindanao Examiner / Aug. 2, 2013) – Government troops have seized a huge number of illegal flitches in the southern Philippine province of Sultan Kudarat, an army commander said Friday.
Col. Edmundo Pangilinan, commander of the 601st Infantry Brigade, said troops and government foresters confiscated over 300,000 board feet of flitches in the hinterlands of Bagumbayan town.
Pangilinan said the operation was part of the government’s anti-illegal campaign ordered by President Benigno Aquino.
“We are doing everything to put a stop to these nefarious activities. The huge number of flitches we confiscated shows the rampant illegal logging operation in the hinterlands,” he told the regional newspaper Mindanao Examiner.
He said civilians are also helping the authorities in the campaign by providing information about illegal logging operations in the province.Villagers have praised the military for the confiscation of the lumber.
Aquino ordered an intensified campaign against illegal logging following a deadly typhoon – Bopha – that hit Mindanao last year and left thousands of people dead and injured.
The government blamed flash floods and mud slides to denuded forests due to illegal logging activities. (Mark Navales)
20