BASILAN (Mindanao Examiner / Feb. 22, 2014) – Government soldiers handed over a boatload of confiscated lumber in Basilan province in the Muslim autonomous region, an army spokesman said Saturday.
Capt. Jefferson Mamauag, of the 1st Infantry Division, said members of the Special Forces seized the 50-foot boat transporting some 2,500 board feet of Yakal or Shora astylosa. The boat was bound for Zamboanga City when intercepted by soldiers.
Mamauag said the group of Lt. Col. Eliglen Villaflor was patrolling the shorelines when it spotted the boat. Villaflor, in his report, said villagers have earlier tipped them off about the lumber which came from the town of Sumisip.
He said troops escorted the boat to a patrol base and handed it over to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
Maj. Gen. Felicito Virgilio Trinidad, Jr, the division commander, commended the efforts of the 4th Special Forces Battalion for the apprehension of the boat.
“The accomplishment manifests the growing concern and vigilance of the residents in Basilan against illegal logging. Indeed, this is a clear sign that the spirit of Bayanihan is alive in this part of the country,” he said in a statement sent to the regional newspaper Mindanao Examiner.
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