A barangay chairman in Caramoran faces possible criminal and administrative charges after undocumented narra flitches set to be smuggled to the mainland were found on his property last month.

OIC-Community Environment and Natural Resources Officer (CENRO) Luvimindo Chioco told the Tribune that Supang barangay captain Zaldy Idanan failed to appear during the initial hearing of the Administrative Confiscation Proceedings (ACP) conducted by his office last July 23. The series of hearings is aimed at eliciting Idanan’s explanation of the presence of the hot lumber on his lot and, if his evidence does not pass muster or he does not appear during any of the three hearing dates, the confiscation of the lumber in favor of the lumber.

Chioco added that administrative charges could be filed against the barangay chairman pursuant to Executive Order No. 23 issued by Pres. Benigno Simeon Aquino III. He did not clarify if similar charges would also be filed against members of the barangay council, none of whom appeared as witnesses despite proper coordination by the Caramoran police.

He said that anybody would find it very unusual if idanan denies any knowledge whatsoever of the presence of the narra flitches within his property.

Acting on information supplied by the office of Mayor Agnes Popa, the police sent an intelligence report to CENRO forest rangers, who soon verified the existence of the lumber inside Idanan’s beachfront property at sitio Sugod.

The policemen led by Insp. Dexter Nabol cordoned off the area in the afternoon of July 7 and requested the participation of the barangay council members during the operation but none of them came. A team led by forest ranger Sofio Cabrera Jr. and composed of forest rangers Melandro Nieva, Marivic Sobrepeña, Carlos Garcia and tree marker Harmel Torzar arrived later that day and inventoried the lumber.

One of the lumber caches was already ready for hauling about 10 meters from the shoreline while two others, one buried beneath the sand and the other camouflaged by growing plants, were at least 30 meters away. Altogether, the 159 pieces of narra lumber found on the Idanan lot had a volume of 3,151 board feet. Twenty-four of the flitches were hauled by the CENRO team to Virac while the remaining 135 pieces remain in custody of municipal executive assistant Gener Torzar and Insp. Nabol.

Cabrera said they noticed a large motorized banca, capable of carrying the contraband, veering away from the coastline upon noticing the presence of the authorities. He informed that about 20 men could load such a boat, believed to be from Quezon province, with the lumber within half an hour.

Chioco, who has declared war on illegal logging in Catanduanes, said the lumber smugglers have shifted their transshipment point from Caramoran to barangay Lubas in San Andres, particularly in sitio Moroc-boroc. Eight forest rangers operating in two shifts every three days are now monitoring the area to prevent any future shipments from slipping through.

Previously, the smugglers used barangays Milaviga and Hitoma as the loading points for their monthly smuggling runs to Quezon but the presence of CENRO forest guardians deterred their nefarious activities, CENRO Chioco said, while the eastern coast of the island has been “sanitized.”

“Our focus now is on prevention,” he stressed, with his office participating in a recent meeting of Caramoran barangay captains where the provisions of EO 23 and its penal provisions were explained.

Forest officers who were in said meeting noted the silence of some barangay chairmen who are suspected of having knowledge of or are directly involved in the smuggling of precious narra outside the island.

The Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) recently announced that it will sanction any local chief executive - whether governor, city and municipal mayor, including barangay chairmen--if they defy or fail to comply with Pres. Aquino’s directive for a total log ban in all natural and residual forests of the country.

 Secretary Jesse Robredo said if a particular LCE fails to prevent the entry or transport of illegal logs or timber within their territorial jurisdiction, he or she will stand liable for any violation of the total log ban under EO 23.