Felled ancient trees in Mt. Banahaw

SARIAYA, Quezon – Still unidentified illegal loggers are being hunted down by an environmental organization after they felled about 60 ancient trees at a protected area of Barangay SampalocBugon in Mt. Banahaw and found the abandoned 1,400 board feet timber, here. Environment advocator Jay Lim of TanggolKalikasan in Southern Tagalog, who is leading the operation after a concerned citizen tipped them off about the timber poaching activity said that among the trees that were chopped down were a 90-yearold Dita tree, locally known as Binuwag.Lim believed that there were already some flitches of the timber that have been transported and delivered to furniture shops on horse-drawn carriages. Lim also revealed the existence of unregistered furniture shops, or locally known as “bansuhan”, in the area. (Danny Estacio)