BY SALLY A. ATENTO
LEGAZPI CITY, Mar 10 (PIA) -- The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) regional office here has intensified law enforcement efforts to protect the natural resources at Bicol National Park (BNP) from abuse and other illegal activities.
DENR Bicol director Gilbert Gonzales said one of the major breaktroughs in this drive was the conviction of one handicraft maker charged with illegal logging.
Gonzales said one Avelino Zapanta Jr. of barangay Tuaca, Basud Camarines Norte was proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt and sentenced to suffer a maximum indeterminate penalty of four months and one day.
Some 2.884 cubic meters or 1,222.91 board feet of lumber from Apitong tree species were seized in his possession with estimated damage to the government amounting to P543, 125.20.
Zapanta earlier denied the accusation claiming that he was at the Bicol National Park looking for grasses and vines. According to him, two men who were unknown to him were the ones cutting the tree but fled upon seeing authorities including DENR foresters and policemen.
However, the court favored the testimony of the DENR against Zapanta as “credible and consistent as he was caught in flagrante by the arresting officer.”
The grounds for felony committed by the accused were possession of timber and other forest products and cutting, gathering, collecting or removing of forest products within a forest land without authority.
Gonzales said the BNP, where the crime was committed, is a protected area covering 5,201 hectares.
It is characterized as a lowland dipterocarp forest which is also a source of pride for the Bicol region.
“Under the law it should not be occupied nor should anything be extracted without permission from authorities including the Protected Area Management Board, its multi-sectoral policy-making body,” Gonzales said.
Gonzales has also given due recognition to the Camarines Norte Provincial Environment and Natural Resources office for the said accomplishment.(MAL/SAA/DENR-5/Albay)
LEGAZPI CITY, Mar 10 (PIA) -- The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) regional office here has intensified law enforcement efforts to protect the natural resources at Bicol National Park (BNP) from abuse and other illegal activities.
DENR Bicol director Gilbert Gonzales said one of the major breaktroughs in this drive was the conviction of one handicraft maker charged with illegal logging.
Gonzales said one Avelino Zapanta Jr. of barangay Tuaca, Basud Camarines Norte was proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt and sentenced to suffer a maximum indeterminate penalty of four months and one day.
Some 2.884 cubic meters or 1,222.91 board feet of lumber from Apitong tree species were seized in his possession with estimated damage to the government amounting to P543, 125.20.
Zapanta earlier denied the accusation claiming that he was at the Bicol National Park looking for grasses and vines. According to him, two men who were unknown to him were the ones cutting the tree but fled upon seeing authorities including DENR foresters and policemen.
However, the court favored the testimony of the DENR against Zapanta as “credible and consistent as he was caught in flagrante by the arresting officer.”
The grounds for felony committed by the accused were possession of timber and other forest products and cutting, gathering, collecting or removing of forest products within a forest land without authority.
Gonzales said the BNP, where the crime was committed, is a protected area covering 5,201 hectares.
It is characterized as a lowland dipterocarp forest which is also a source of pride for the Bicol region.
“Under the law it should not be occupied nor should anything be extracted without permission from authorities including the Protected Area Management Board, its multi-sectoral policy-making body,” Gonzales said.
Gonzales has also given due recognition to the Camarines Norte Provincial Environment and Natural Resources office for the said accomplishment.(MAL/SAA/DENR-5/Albay)
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