5 January 2012, Yahoo News – Under House Bill 5485, those who have illegally occupied forest land or using it for commercial or business purposes will also be held liable.
In an effort to stem the destruction of the country's forest cover, the House of Representatives have recently approved in its third and final reading House Bill 5485 that seeks to impose life imprisonment against illegal loggers.
Also called Sustainable Forest Management Act filed by Representative Rufus Rodriguez (2nd district, Cagayan de Oro), the bill provides protection, rehabilitation and sustainable management of the country's forests.
The proposal calls for punishment of up to life imprisonment for those caught harvesting, collecting, and distributing illegally acquired timber that is worth P500,000. Culprits will also be fined with an amount equivalent to 10 times the market value of the captured timber.
Other than illegal loggers, other persons engaged in such a business are also subject to the proposal.
Those who have unlawfully occupied forest lands, illegally converted forests into municipal parks, falsified reports, operated sawmills, and illegally brought in tools and equipment for deforestation are also subject to the proposal.
Rodriguez, whose constituency is Cagayan de Oro devastated by Typhoon “Sendong” last December 2012, said that one of the leading causes of forest disturbance is illegal cutting.
The effects of Sendong are being attributed to a number of reasons, including the destruction of a dam that caused flash flooding, as well as denudation of forests along the Cagayan de Oro River that that could have prevented the waters from rushing along the river's banks.
Flash floods brought about by “Sendong” killed at least 1,200 people, mostly those living along the banks of the Cagayan de Oro River and Iligan City. Damage is estimated to be around P1.4 billion
The most recent report by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) showed that the Philippines has a forest cover of about 7 million hectares.
However, the DENR stressed that much of the country's forests are heavily fragmented. Deforestation due to illegal logging is still around 1.4 percent annually (89,000 hectares) as of 2005.
