DENR files raps against mining firm for cutting trees in Palawan
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) yesterday sued Palawan-based Ipilan Nickel Corp. (INC) over its alleged massive and indiscriminate treecutting in Brooke’s Point town.
In a statement, the DENR said it filed a complaint against INC for violation of the Presidential Decree No. 705, or the Forestry Code of the Philippines.
The agency charged INC for felling some 677 trees, most of which are hardwood species, in a 1.7-hectare lot in Barangay Maasin which, the DENR said, was not part of its tree-cutting permit.
Brooke’s Point Community Environment and Natural Resources Officer Conrado Corpuz said this is a clear violation of the Section 77 of the forestry code.
In May 2016, the DENR gave INC a one-year special tree cutting permit as part of its mineral production sharing agreement (MPSA) with the agency. It covered a 24-hectare forest.
However, the INC was one of the companies whose environmental compliance certificate (ECC) was ordered cancelled by former Secretary Gina Lopez on December last year, making its permit invalid.
The INC earlier insisted that the permit remains valid after it had filed a motion for reconsideration on the cancellation of its ECC.
Corpuz said the case they filed on Friday was “just the first in a series of cases against the INC.”
He said a separate charge will be filed once the inventory of the trees cut in the remaining 22.3 hectares is completed.
The onset of the rainy season and the huge number of felled trees has slowed down their retrieval and inventory, Corpuz explained.
Initial reports said the INC cut down some 7,000 trees, most of which were premium native species, such as malabayabas, apitong-baboy, nato and agoho.
The DENR, likewise, is looking into another violation by the INC, for allegedly constructing a mine yard road within its mining area, despite not having a clearance from the DENR and the cancellation of its ECC.
The agency said it has sent a team from the Mines and Geosciences Bureau, Environmental Management Bureau, Palawan Council for Sustainable Development (PCSD) and the local government of Brooke’s Point to the Ipilan mine area to conduct an ocular inspection.