(Eagle News) — Five people in Sultan Kudarat were arrested after they were caught in possession of products from “naturally grown” trees in violation of the forestry law.
The National Bureau of Investigation environmental crime division arrested Vivencio Necesito Jr., Ramel Castracion, Sonny Oriel, Jerry Paglomutan and Wilfredo Pableo after they failed to produce environmental permits for their furniture shops, which housed narra, mahogany, yakal, lavan, ipil ipil, dao, lamud and mariapa products.
The NBI said the five resorted to the “illegal cutting” of trees to secure wood for their shops.
They are facing charges for violation of Executive Order No. 277, or the Revised Forestry Code of the Philippines, and for illegal possession of forest products. (Based on a report from Erwin Temperante)