The militant Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) pinpointed; a retired Armed Forces of the Philippines general as one of the owners of the largest logging firms in the Aurora and Quezon area, which caused massive lost of lives. According to Carl Anthony Ala, public information officer of KMP “Retired Brig. Gen. Felizardo Tanabe owns Pacific Timber Export Corp. which accounts for a large part of the 106, 254 hectares of forest lands which the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) issued Timber License Agreements (TLAs). Another culprit is Mr. Leoncio Ruiz who owns the Inter-Pacific Forest Resources Corp, which also operates in the area,”

“In an effort to mislead the public on the extent of the logging being done in our forest lands, former DENR Sec. Elisea Gozun cited that in the first three years of the Arroyo administration, the government and the private sector (mostly logging concessionaires) have forested 72,127 hectares, a miniscule amount in relation to the current forest denudation rate of 100,000 hectares a year,” Ala explained.

“The extent of logging in our country is really staggering and if the catastrophe which caused more than a thousand lives had not happened, then the government would not have noticed it at all. Now, Malacanang and the AFP has the gall to point fingers, when the former through DENR is responsible for issuing logging licenses and the latter’s generals are the ones involved in the logging itself,” Ala added.

“We hope that what would happen is not another case of “ningas cogon” when the issue is still hot, then it would relegated to the dust bin after a week. This is the norm in the dealings of Malacanang as well as its agencies. How can justice be achieved when the ones responsible are also the ones in power and will continue their operations as soon as the limelight is not on them? ” ended Ala. # # #
 

KMP - 6 December 2004