By EDWIN IYO
Correspondent
THE pick-up truck of the chairman of the city council’s environment committee was caught moving hundreds of board feet of protected species of hardwood after the vehicle’s driver and his companions figured in a road accident in Medina town, Misamis Oriental, late last week, the Gold Star Daily confirmed yesterday.
The Medina town police identified the owner of the pick-up truck as Councilor Zaldy Ocon who, incident-ally, is the head of the Cagayan de Oro city council’s committee on environment and natural resources.
Authorities seized 138 lauan and magcono lumbers of various dimensions when they found the hardwood transported using Ocon’s black Toyota Hi-Lux pick-up truck in Purtulin, Medina.
Senior Insp. Arnold Sala, Medina’s deputy police chief, said the protected hardwood species were moved from Liangga, Surigao del Sur, and were supposed to be brought to Cagayan de Oro where Ocon lives.
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in Gingoog has impounded the 711 board feet of lumber. The Gold Star Daily however learned that Ocon came the same day, and took the damaged vehicle with him. The pick-up truck, with license plates KDP-389, was driven by 26-year-old Sode Vanson of Davao del Sur when the accident happened, according to Sala.
Vanson had two companions with him––Datunus Virgilio, 53, of Balulang, Cagayan de Oro, and Pepito de los Reyes, 41, of Liangga, Surigao del Sur.
Sala said the accident happened when Vanson tried to avoid hitting a person who crossed the highway in Putrulin at around 3:44 am on Friday, the same day the predominantly Roman Catholic Cagayan de Oro celebrated the feast of St. Augustine. He said Vanson miscalculated, and the pick-up truck sharply swerved to the left, flipped over, and then plunged into an open drain.
Police said a truck of the Misamis Oriental II Rural Electric Service Cooperative (Moresco II) was used in towing the damaged vehicle back to the road.
Sala said Ocon came hours later with an official receipt and certificate of registration for the pick-up truck, and authorities released the vehicle to him the same day. The damaged pick-up truck was then towed back to Cagayan de Oro. The reason why the vehicle was not impounded remains unclear at presstime.
But environment and natural resources officer Rey Fernandez said the DENR in Gingoog City would deliberate on the matter next week.
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