Work continues despite death threats, says DENR 13 chief

By Ben Serrano,
Correspondent

BUTUAN City — The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR 13) regional executive director Nonito M. Tamayo confirmed he received precaution from military and the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process to prioritize safety of its field personnel and officials including him and its other top officials in the region particularly in areas of Veruela, La Paz, Talacogon and Esperanza towns in Agusan del Sur for imminent danger.

In an exclusive interview, Tamayo told Gold Star Daily the death threats might be in response with intensified anti-illegal logging drive.

Earlier, some tribal groups and their leaders lambasted DENR for allegedly releasing special permits to retrieve, consolidate and then sold said fallen hardwood trees due typhoons to wrong persons allegedly colluding with some local government officials allegedly interested in the retrieval permits.

The lumads complained to Tamayo that instead of retrieving only fallen or uprooted trees due typhoons, those who were given special permits were allegedly cutting hardwood trees and sold it at high prices per cubic meters while some by thousands of board feet of hard wood transported as legal due special permits but actually illegal because under E.O 23 issued by then President Aquino one cannot cut hardwood species in the forest.

Some lumads also are complaining that President Aquino issued then Executive Order No. 23 which prohibits to cut, transport naturally grown trees with offering alternative livelihood to provide income or livelihood opportunities to thousands of displaced wood based industry workers and tree farmers.

“Those started some sort of hatred by the people who relied most in their livelihood and living in wood business and logging industry against DENR and its personnel and officials. Te reason why there are now foreign assisted programs to address the livelihood component of tree farmers, affected lumads who relied their living in wood based industry as total log ban still in place” Tamayo added.

Under E.O 23 it also ordered proper assessment, inventory and monitoring in cutting planted wood species like falcata, mangium and others as it is allowed to be transported and to be sold provide some strict rules and regulations must be followed.

“Bottom line here is that many people in Caraga Region relied so much in livelihood in forest based products which are now banned because of the stil existing E.O No. 23 while we are also facing how sustain livelihood to thousands  of families who relied much on forest based sources” Tamayo concluded.