Ayon kay Cimatu, dapat na maging mapagmatyag ang local government sa Magpet at makipag-ugnayan sa Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Region 12 para mabantayan ang illegal-cutting activities.
“We cannot allow people to further destroy our forests especially when we know that flooding is among its direct consequences,” pahayag ni Cimatu.
“Many Filipinos have suffered enough from the devastation of massive flooding because of forest denudation,” dagdag ni Kalihim.
Una rito, sinabi ni DENR-12 Regional Executive Director Felix Alicer na nadiskubre ang illegal tree-cutting matapos magsagawa ng raid sa Barangay Don Panaca.
Sa naturang operasyon, nadiskubre ang illegal small-scale mining operation.
“What we are seeing here is that the threat to denudation is not so much on timber poaching but land conversion,” pahayag ni Alicer.