DENR-12 mourns death of forester

By Teng Lauban Datu
Cotabato City Bureau Chief .

Koronadal City — Officials and employees of the Department and Environment and Natural Resources-12 are lamenting on the death of an environmental law enforcer, Forester Kandatu Bansil of the Community Environment and Natural Resources Office (Cenro) Tacurong City.

In a spot report, 51-year old Forester Bansil was shot dead by an unidentified gunman last Thursday in Lambayong, Sultan Kudarat.

Assistant Secretary for Field Operations in Western Mindanao Jim Sampulna visited the family and expressed his deepest sympathy to the bereaved family of Forester Bansil.

“Secretary Roy Cimatu has (instructed us) to provide the needed assistance of the family and to monitor the result of the investigation,” Sampulna said.

In an interview, Cenro of Tacurong City Saga Akmad expressed his feeling of dismay to a personnel and a colleague who has been sincere and dedicated in his responsibility as environmental law enforcer.

“Forester Bansil is serious in the campaign of the department to enforce environmental laws and to go against violators,” Akmad said.

According to Akmad, the result of police investigation is not yet officially disclosed for more than a week now since Bansil’s death.

Regional Executive Director Nilo Tamoria also expressed his sympathies for the loss of a forester in the region.

“The work of a forester is not an easy task. It is somehow associated with risk especially when they are assigned in the field and armed only with their desire of combatting illegal logging activities,” Tamoria said.

Bansil started his carreer as a Forester I in the year 2005 at Cenro Tacurong and promoted Forester II in the year 2016.  He was designated as Chief of the Enforcement Unit until he was killed.(with reports from denr xii)