Cimatu seeks help of AFP, PNP
MANILA – Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Roy A. Cimatu visited the wake of slain barangay captain Ruben Arzaga in El Nido, Palawan, honoring him as a ‘Bayani ng Kalikasan’.
“Saludo ako kay Kapitan Ruben, isinakripisyo niya ang kanyang buhay para protektahan ang ating kapaligiran. Dahil dito, itinuturing natin siyang Bayani ng Kalikasan,” Cimatu said.
Arzaga, 49, and an active member of the El Nido-Taytay Managed Resource Protected Area Management Board, was shot dead by suspected illegal loggers whom he and a team of local environmental law enforcers were about to apprehend in Sitio Batbat, Villa Libertad on September 14, 2017.
Two of the suspects were later arrested and charged with murder and four counts of attempted murder.
Arzaga’s killing was the second attack on forest protection officers by illegal loggers and timber poachers in Palawan in three weeks.
Last Aug. 23, DENR forester Lito Eyala was shot by a suspected timber poacher while he and his team were patrolling in the mountains of Barangay Bacungan in Puerto Princesa City.
Eyala sustained two gunshot wounds in his back and nape. He underwent surgery to remove the bullet lodged in his right jaw.
Cimatu denounced the two shooting cases that victimized DENR’s forest protection officers by suspected illegal loggers, baring plans to strengthen the agency’s community environment and natural resources offices (CENROs), with the help of the military and the police forces.
“Patutulong tayo sa mga sundalo at pulis na sanayin ang mga foresters natin sa security protocol at sa paghawak ng baril. Pinag-aaralan din ngayon ng ahensya kung pwede natin silang pahawakin kapag nagpapatrol o may huhulihin para maipagtanggol nila ang sarili, kung kailangan,” Cimatu said.