Mindanao Region Begins Total Logging Ban

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COTABATO CITY, March 27 Asia Pulse - The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) has imposed a total log ban to protect the region's remaining forest.

Lawyer Cynthia Sayadi, ARMM's solicitor general, said ARMM Governor Datu Zaldy Ampatuan has directed Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR)ARMM chief Kabuntalan Emblawa to annul all logging permits previously issued in the provinces of Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Sulu, Basilan, Tawi-tawi and Marawi City.

However, Sayadi explained that the order exempts, upon verification, the shipment of logs by wood companies operating in the region using forest products from Malaysia and Indonesia.

"All violators will be dealt accordingly. Police officers in the region will strictly enforce the logging ban," Sayadi said. The log ban came after elements of the 37th Infantry Battalion seized a sizeable cargo of forest products loaded on two 10-wheeler cargo trucks and three other small utility vehicles in the outskirts of Parang, Maguindanao.

EDIT

http://asia.news.yahoo.com/060327/4/2i0pe.html