By
Jelly Musico
January
9, 2018
MANILA
-- President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered the suspension of several logging
concessions in Zamboanga Peninsula due to displaced indigenous populations.
Presidential
Spokesperson Harry Roque said during a Palace briefing on Tuesday that Duterte
made the announcement during Monday afternoon’s Cabinet meeting.
“The
President also ordered several logging concessions in Zamboanga Peninsula to be
suspended. This after he was apprised of concerns of indigenous populations
that they have been displaced by logging operations of some companies,” Roque
said.
Roque
said the President had also observed that widespread logging was responsible
for the flashfloods that hit Mindanao during the onslaught of tropical storm
'Vinta' last December.
Roque
clarified that the President’s order was just suspension and not closure while
the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) was investigating
the allegations that indigenous people had been displaced by the logging
operations.
