The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has donated over 78,000 board feet of lumber materials worth P4.6 million to aid in the reconstruction of houses and schools ravaged by recent typhoons in Batanes and in Cagayan.
The DENR said in a statement on Tuesday its Cagayan Valley regional office provided 4,791 pieces of wood lumber materials with a volume of 63,260.62 board feet to the provincial local government of Batanes for the repair and construction of homes in the island municipalities of Basco, Itbayat, Ivana, Mahatao, Sabtang and Uyugan which were heavily affected by Typhoon Julian.
The Department of Education (DepEd) has received more than 1,000 pieces of lumber with a total volume of 14,879.92 board feet for the rehabilitation of schools in the second district of Cagayan province that suffered extensive damage from Typhoon Marce.
According to Gwendolyn Bambalan, DENR Cagayan Valley regional executive director, the wood lumber materials were sourced from confiscated forest products with orders of finality under the custody of DENR in the provinces of Cagayan, Isabela, Quirino and Nueva Vizcaya, as well as turned-over logs from mining companies in the province of Nueva Vizcaya.
“While the hauling and loading of the wood materials delivered to Batanes were facilitated and supervised by DENR personnel, this initiative would not have been possible without the assistance of the Police Mobile Force Company and Police Provincial Offices of Pampanga, Tarlac, Bataan, Zambales, Nueva Ecija, Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway Patrol Crew and the Bureau of Fire Protection in Subic,” Bambalan added.
The DENR said it is set to formalize the deed of donation with Governor Marilou Cayco of Batanes and Benjamin Paragas, DepEd regional director. “Despite the challenges posed by successive typhoons, we were able to mobilize our resources and work with our partners to provide the much-needed aid to typhoon victims,” said DENR Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo Loyzaga.
