Secretary Roy A. Cimatu of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has condemned the recent attacks against a forester and two policemen by suspected illegal loggers in Aurora and Northern Samar provinces.
“We vehemently denounce any kind of violent acts inflicted on our defenders of the environment, especially at a time when we are all dealing with an unprecedented public health crisis,” the DENR chief said in a news statement.
He called for a swift justice for the attacks, which took place a day apart in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic that has left many protected areas in the country unguarded against various environmental crimes.
DENR Forest Management Specialist II Danilo Pascasio is now fighting for his life after being shot several times by an illegal logging suspect in Aurora last September 27.
A day earlier on September 26, Patrolmen Jessie Golondrina and Edwin Fernando Velarde both died while conducting an operation against three suspected timber poachers in Northern Samar.
Initial reports reveal that Pascasio was shot several times in front of his house at Barangay Calabuanan in Baler town by a suspect identified as Dennis Ruzol.
On September 24, or three days before the incident, Ruzol was arrested for violating the Forestry Code. He posted bail and was granted provisional liberty.
The forester sustained nine gunshot wounds, one which pierced his liver and pancreas. He immediately underwent an operation to remove the bullets from his body and is currently at the intensive care unit of a hospital in Cabanatuan City. Police have mounted a manhunt to capture Ruzol.
“To assault an environmental worker, who is just doing his job amid this Covid-19 pandemic, is utterly inhumane and unjust,” Cimatu said.
According to Aurora Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Officer Alfredo Collado, Pascacio played a major role in 11 anti-illegal timber poaching operations from June 6 to September 24 this year.
One operation resulted in the arrest and filing of charges against Ruzol and two others, and confiscation of 422 pieces, or 4,865 board feet of illegally manufactured lumber, one elf truck, one Kia Besta van, two chainsaws, and a tricycle.
Meanwhile, Golondrina and Velarde were killed in a gunfight while securing a Masbate-bound pump boat carrying over 11,000 board feet of undocumented lauan timber they recovered from suspected illegal loggers in the coastal town of San Isidro in Northern Samar.
Regional Executive Director Tirso Parian of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in Region 8 said the two environmental policemen were part of the composite team put together by the agency as part of its intensified campaign against illegal loggers in the area.
Parian said the incident was a result of an 11-day operation, which started on Sept. 17, in response to reports from concerned citizens about the unlawful shipment of forest products bound for Masbate and the presence of an illegal boat yard at Barangay Palanit.
Last May, Forester Fernando Polenio was shot dead by an unidentified assailant in Palo town in Leyte while doing field work amid the Covid-19 crisis. In 2019, four environmental workers were also killed while performing their duties.
The deaths of forest and environmental workers have prompted Cimatu to call for the immediate passage of a legislative measure creating the DENR Enforcement Bureau.
Cimatu said that by having a permanent enforcement bureau, the DENR will be more effective in stopping environmental crimes, such as illegal logging and smuggling of wildlife species.