STOCKPILED FLETCHES OF BANNED PREMIUM HARDWOOD SEIZED BY PUERTO PRINCESA AUTHORITIES

Puerto Princesa City – Acting on a tip that a huge stockpile of lumber were stored in the compound of the old Asia World Hotel in Bgy San Miguel, (now owned by Legends Hotel International),from an informant thru text message and armed with a search warrant , a composite team of City ENRO personnel led by Atty. Regidor B. Tulali, PNNI-GLACC and PNP-CIDG served said warrant to the owner, a certain Wyden King thru his caretaker.

What greeted them to their amazement were systematically piled lumber of different sizes and species that include banned hardwoods such as ipil, nato, narra, apitong, amoguis, dao and other miscellaneous species.The caretaker cannot show any legal instrument to possess subject lumber so the search team decided to seize the stock.

While the search team is loading the fletches to government trucks, the caretaker presented to the team three sets of Special Private Land Timber Permit (SPLTP) with an aggregate volume of 168.63 cu. m. (42,157.50 board feet) issued to Ramiro Villavicencio, Danilo Diaz and Wyden King. The search team estimated the actual stock of lumber on site to be around 60,000 board feet, in violation of Section 4, paragraph 4 of DAO 97-32 which provide “that in case the quantity or volume of stock of forest products exceeds what is authorized, documented, manifested or declared by two percent (2%) or more for lumber, the entire shipment or stock is considered illegal and thus liable for seizure, confiscation and forfeiture.”
The team also noted that there were several lumber dimensions and species which did not match the scale and tally sheet, another violation of DAO 97-32 under Section 2, paragraph a, which states that “all forest products possessed with incomplete required supporting documents or with spurious permits or permits that contain forged entries are considered illegal forest products that are subject to seizure and confiscation”.
The composite team concluded that the huge stockpile of lumber inside the compound of an old hotel now owned by Legend Hotel International are deemed illegal based on violations mentioned, and appropriate charges will be filed against its owners.
Mayor Edward S. Hagedorn, a staunch environment advocate, lauded the efforts of the raiding team. Incentives are expected while commendations are being prepared for the members of the group.