Hataman clears way for log permits.

Philippine Daily Inquirer
February 22, 2012

DUMINGAG, Zamboanga del Sur—The highest ranking officer in charge of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) has ordered an inventory of tree plantations in the region in preparation for the possible issuance of permits to cut trees provided these were not from natural growth forests.

Mujiv Hataman, acting ARMM governor, said the inventory was needed to determine which individuals or companies would be issued tree-cutting permits.

Following the Dec. 17 disaster that struck the northern Mindanao cities of Iligan and Cagayan de Oro, Hataman received direct orders from President Aquino to stop logging in the region.

Logs cut from the forests of Lanao del Sur, a province in ARMM, had made floods that swept the two cities deadlier, pummeling hundreds of people to their deaths.

A logging firm, Vicmar, was identified as the operator of the concession from which the killer logs are believed to have come.

As a result of Mr. Aquino’s instruction, Hataman issued Executive Order No. 3 which imposed a moratorium on tree-cutting even in private plantations in ARMM.

Hataman, however, said EO 3 was not a blanket ban on tree-cutting in plantations. He said it merely imposes a stricter procedure in the issuance of tree-cutting permits “because we want to make sure the trees are really from private estates and not from our remaining forests.”

The inventory, he said, would help authorities identify the source of trees that would be cut in the region.

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