By Edgar Cadagat
A middleman engaged in the lumber business selling the commodity which he buys
from tree planters under the Integrated Social Forestry program of the
government has threatened to file robbery charges against members of the
Hinobaan PNP after they seized several hundred board feet of already sawn timber
half of which went missing soon after.
In an interview with several broadcasters, Hinobaan Police Chief Sr. Insp. Mateo
Maguate did admit that he ordered the seizure of timber consisting mainly of
mahogany and gemelina which are not banned species because these had no permits
from the local Community Environment & Natural Resources Office (CENRO), under
CENRO Officer Feligracio Pantaleon who is based in Sipalay City.
In an interview with reporters of radio stations DYRL and Radyo Veritas, Maguate
said they had earlier received timber which were piled up in some parts of the
village, so he sent a policeman, PO3 Novie Maestrecampo to proceed to the area
and to determine whether the cutting and selling was illegal.
When Maestrecampo arrived in Brgy. Bacuyangan, no one came forward to claim the
estimated 10,000 board feet of timber so he ordered its hauling to the police
compound Thursday last week.
But when Maestrecampo went back to haul the remainder of the cut timber, he
found out that a large bulk was missing. The Hinobaan cop chief said he did not
know who took the timber.
But the middleman who requested he not be named for the moment, said he had
filed charges against the policemen, had insisted it was Maestrecampo.
The middleman who represented the real owner of the timber pointed out that it
is not illegal to transact business with the tree planters because the tree
species he had bought were not banned species under the law, because these are
not indigenous trees.
He said he had been doing business of this kind for already six years and that
after the trees are cut, he is usually able to come up with the permits because
these are processed simultaneously with the cutting of timber.
A witness said after the hauling of the timber, he saw that the policemen were
roasting a pig near the police office, insinuating that some “hanky-hanky” was
going on.
The middleman said the people who owned the trees cut into timber are anxiously
waiting for the full payment of their timber as most of them are sickly and they
need the money to buy medicines.
Among the tree farmers who possess Certificates of Stewardship Contracts (CSC)
were Veronica Omilig, Ma. Luz Alpeche and Dalmacio Metillo. They were paid, they
said, only half of the full cost of their trees and they are worried because
they needed the money to buy their needs.
The middleman said he will have the incident throw the brunt at Maestrecampo and
Maguate. He will also call for a press conference to expose what he said were
shenanigans of Maestrecampo which has been repeated time and again.*
