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Philippine
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ordered a special government task force to
identify and prosecute major illegal loggers responsible for the deadly
landslides that wiped out entire towns in the Philippines after two
back-to-back storms, reports Agence France-Presse. Arroyo said
anti-illegal logging task force head Victor Corpus, Environment Secretary
Michael Defensor, and Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez, were being given
"one month from today to identify, investigate and prosecute the
big-time illegal loggers, starting from the hardest hit disaster areas."
The President stated that she would prosecute the illegal loggers "the
way we do terrorists, kidnappers, [and] drug traffickers”, reports the Sun
Star.
Illegal loggers were "violators of the right to sustainable
environment," stated Arroyo during a speech marking International Human
Rights Day. "Health, education, and a sustainable environment dwell in
human rights as well as in shared prosperity. Human rights are imperative for
human survival and in the pursuit of the Millenium Development Goals."
Arroyo said she was "very grateful" for the quick response, which
included seven raids on alleged illegal sawmills in Mauban town, Quezon
province. "This morning, they filed cases against those caught,"
Arroyo said. Arroyo had suspended all logging activities in the country
following the killer floods and landslides in Luzon that left some 1,500
people dead or missing. Officials have blamed widespread logging in the
Sierra Madre mountain range for the deluge of mud, logs, and boulders that
buried the majority of the three towns.
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