Wood processing plants urge DENR to lift 5-year old policy

By Edwin Iyo,
Correspondent

Gingoog City — Operators of wood procces-sing plants (WPPs) in the eastern part of Misamis Oriental have urged and appealed to the Department of Environement and Natural Resources (DENR) to lift its five-year old policy which “forces” them to sell their finished wood products to the buyers where they acquire the supply contract.

At least six operators of WPPs from the eastern part of the province attended a dialogue called by City Environment and Natural Resources Officer Conrado Mahinay here last Friday  to voice their sentiments on the department policy.

The policy forces WPP operators to exclusively supply their finished wood products to the buy or buyers where they get their Logs Supply Contract (LSC)

The policy also requires the WPP operators to secure the LSC first with the buyers as prerequisite for their application for both the renewal or application of their license to operate.

“Tungod sa maong policy nag barato usab ang buying price sa China, Taiwan, ug Japan apil na dinhi sa local,” one of the operators present in the dialogue said.

Eve Montefalcon, representing the VCT wood processing plant in Lagonglong town, said the policy is not applicable anymore and is starting to affect their industry’s revenue.

“Daghan apektado sa maong policy nga maoy gipatuman sugod niadtong tuig 2012 pa,” she said.

Mahinay, for his part, said they received a memorandum from the central office that instructs them to “fully implement the DENR policy” that was imposed since 2012.

“Daghan nawad-an sa trabaho tungod kay naghinay man ang operation sa mga planta,” Montefalcon countered.

She said the department should not dictate to whom they would sell their finished products.

“Dili gayod unta puede nga but-an kami kun asa namu i-deliver ang among wood products tungod kay dili parehas tanan presyo nga gi-impose sa mga buyer,” Montefalcon said.

She added their finished products are mainly made out of Falcata which is not regulated by the department.

Mahinay said he hopes the appeal of the WPPs will be considered as he promised to bring the operators’ complaints to their central office in Manila.

“The sentiments of the WPPs are reasonable but this policy must be followed,” Mahinay said at the end of the dialogue.