TACLOBAN CITY – The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) here in the region has donated lumber worth more than P2.4 million to the victims of typhoon ‘Ambo’.
DENR-8 Assistant Regional Director for Technical Services Forester Jose Bascos, in a statement during the formal signing of the deed of donation of confiscated forest products said that while they were saddened that these trees have been felled down illegally, the timely reaction of our law enforcement officers resulted to its seizure and confiscation.
“We can say that donating these lumbers to victims of Typhoon Ambo is a silver lining to an otherwise unfortunate event,” he said.
Bascos said that forest products were transferred to the custody of the provincial government of Northern Samar which were later distributed to the different local government units (LGUs) of the province for the construction of their respective COVID-19 isolation facilities.
Other government agencies whose offices were damaged by Ambo when it struck Northern Samar in May 2020, were also recipients of the donated lumber.
Among the recipients were the Department of Education (DepEd) for the construction of classrooms, the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) and Philippine Army (PA) for the repair of their respective offices and camps.
The subject of the donation has total cost of P2.48 million which included the 1,410 pieces of laua-an with a volume of 27,038 bd. ft. and an estimated market value of P1.32 million.
Also donated were 51 pieces of boat keels with a volume 23,149.145 bd. ft. with an estimated market value of P1.15 million.
Bascos said that the said forest products were confiscated as a result of the successful anti-illegal logging operation dubbed as the “Battle for San Isidro Forest: Anti-Illegal Logging Operation”.
The DENR enforcement team in coordination with elements from the Philippine Army (PA) and the Philippine National Police (PNP), acting on information from concerned citizens, conducted operations at Brgy. Happy Valley, San Isidro, Northern Samar on April 24-26, 2020 and May 4-8, 2020 that yielded to the seizure of forest products with an estimated total market value of P5.4 million. A portion of which formed part of the donated forest products.
(RESTITUTO A. CAYUBIT)
