Unidentified armed men shot dead a member of the government’s anti-illegal logging task force while he was guarding confiscated timber in Surigao del Sur province in southern Philippines.
In an interview with GMANews.TV on Friday, Maj. Gen. Renator Miranda, commander of Task Force (TF) Pagbabago, identified the victim as Jacinto Branas, a 56-year-old forester from Bislig City.
An initial investigation showed that the victim was guarding seized logs in a village in Bislig City when the armed assailants launched the attack.
Miranda suspected the armed men were the owners of the confiscated logs and were trying to get back at authorities.
In an apparent attempt to intimidate government forces, unidentified snipers, in an earlier incident, fired warning shots against TF Pagbabago members.
“They wanted to scare us but my men are not scared of them. For my part it is already a passion, an advocacy to protect the environment,” said Miranda.
“I am not afraid to die. What we only wanted is to stop the cutting trees in the forests of Caraga that are now getting denuded so fast,” he added.
Apparently, it was not the first time that armed men had launched assaults during anti-illegal operations.
In another incident, men operating a tugboat that was ferrying confiscated logs were also fired at by armed men, but no one was hurt.
In 2008, forester Audie Lachingco was shot dead in front of his home in Parañaque City in Manila, but it was not immediately clear if the attack was work-related.
Lachingco was a member of TF Pagbabago which was then headed by Army General Roy Kiamko, who was responsible for confiscating P20 million worth of illegally cut logs along the Agusan River.
Since its creation, the government task force has already seized P60 million worth of illegally cut logs in the Caraga Region, Mrianda said.
Meanwhile, several environmental groups in the region urged TF Pagbabago not to be “selective” in their anti-logging operations.
The groups warned that the task force’s “informants” who give tips on where illegal logs are being kept might just belong to rival illegal logging firms. — Ben Serrano/LBG/MDM, GMANews.TV
World Day for Safety and Health at Work
“Safety and health at work every day!”
Invoke Article 33 of the ILO constitution
against the military junta in Myanmar to carry out the 2021 ILO Commission of Inquiry recommendations against serious violations of Forced Labour and Freedom of Association protocols.
Accept National Unity Government
(NUG) of Myanmar.
Reject Military!
#WearMask #WashHands #Distancing #TakePicturesVideos
Monthly Observances:
March – Women’s Role in History Month
April – Month of Planet Earth
Weekly Observances:
Last Week of March: Protection and Gender Fair Treatment of the Girl Child Week
Last Week of April – World Immunization Week
Daily Observances:
Mar 25 – International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transallantic Slave Trade
Mar 27– Earth Hour
Apr 21 – Civil Service Day
Apr 22 – World Earth Day
Apr 28 – World Day for Safety and Health at Work
