By EUGENE ADIONG
BACOLOD City — Should the Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office (PENRO) be held liable for the discovery of cut pieces of lawaan wood in Hinobaan town?
PENRO chief Andres Untal said there could not have been any negligence on the part of his office and the local government.
Hinobaan Mayor Ernesto Estrao is just in the first year of his first term, while Sipalay Community Environment and Natural Resources Officer (CENRO) Vilma Linates, who also covers Hinobaan, had been in her position for only a year, too, said Untal.
“Maybe the negligence was in the past CENROs and local government officials,” he pointed out.
Authorities confiscated some 500 cut pieces of mostly century-old lawaan wood — about 1,000 cubic meters (stères) — which were found piled outside the houses of four people in barangays Bacuyangan and Culipapa.
Untal said the wood were sourced from Brgy. Damutan, where there is a virgin forest.
He believes the trees were cut two to four years ago and were brought down from the mountains only later.
Untal said they are currently inventorying all the seized wood, adding that bringing them further down would be very expensive. But “we will find a way by coordinating with our regional office and the Office of the Governor,” he said.
He said the confiscated lumber will be donated to the Department of Education to be used in making chairs and tables for schools in Negros Occidental.
Meanwhile, Untal said several people pointed to a member of the Sangguniang Bayan of Hinobaan as someone behind the illegal logging. He said they are validating the claim.
According to the people there, the official has a shipbuilding business, Untal said.
Lawaan, a hardwood, is commonly used in building hulls of boats./PN
