DENR Seized P3 Million Worth of Agarwood from Illegal Traders in Quezon City
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) agents seized nearly P3 million worth of agarwood from illegal traders in Quezon City.
According to the report, DENR operatives seized P2.9 million worth of agarwood from two traffickers. The agarwoods were collected on June 15 during an operation by the DENR-Environmental Law Enforcement and Protection Service (ELEPS) and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).
18 kilos of agarwood worth P2.9 million were recovered from suspects Mark Gil Espino and Nathaniel Avelino in a coffee shop parking lot on West Avenue in Quezon City, according to ELEPS Director Reuel Sorilla.
“But the real worth of the contraband is placed at P29 million, or at least 10 times more than its market value, if we will factor in the environmental services that were lost as a result of the illegal cutting of these threatened trees,” Sorilla said.
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Illegal traders were also found with Asian utility vehicles, cell phones, and scales. According to Sorilla, DENR-NBI operatives began building their case against Espino and Avelino as early as November 2020, after a concerned citizen supplied information to NBI Agent Habeas Corpus of the Environmental Crime Division.
He noted that while calculating the total cost of an environmental crime, the lost environmental services should be factored in “to drive home the idea that a standing tree is significantly better than an apprehended undocumented tree.”
“This is where Secretary Roy A. Cimatu’s marching order to ELEPS is anchored. Our paramount objective is one of preemptive defense to deter the commission of environmental crimes by strengthening DENR’s institutional capacity to prevent illegal logging. But if we have to run after the perpetrators, then we will do it. ”
Espino and Avelino are being held at the NBI detention facility in Manila on charges of violating Republic Act 9147, the Wildlife Resources and Protection Act, and Presidential Decree 705, the Philippines’ Revised Forestry Code.
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