Question & AnswerQ&A (PRESIDENTIAL DECREE NO. 1559)
Public forest is the mass of lands of the public domain which has not been subject to classification determining which lands are needed for forest purposes and which are not.
Forest reservations are forest lands reserved by the President of the Philippines for specific purposes.
Any person cutting or removing timber without authority will be punished under Articles 309 and 310 of the Revised Penal Code, with confiscation of timber and equipment, and forfeiture of improvements in the area.
Incentives include nominal filing fees, rental payment exemptions, reduced forest charges, tax exemptions including real property, priority credit assistance, exemption from withholding taxes, classification as pioneer investments, and free technical advice, among others listed in Section 36.
Kaingin refers to a portion of forest land subjected to shifting and/or permanent slash-and-burn cultivation.
Transfer is allowed if the license has existed for 3 years, the licensee has not violated forestry laws, the transferee is qualified, the transfer is not speculative, and the transferee assumes all obligations.
Corporations must sell at least 10% of subscribed capital stock to employees, laborers, and the public within six years of operation, with a plan submitted for approval within one year of the decree's effectivity.
It is the volume of forest products authorized to be cut yearly from a forest and is based on area size, volume, seed trees, and cutting cycle to ensure sustainable yield.
Commercial logging and grazing are prohibited in critical watersheds, national parks, and experimental forests; hunting and fishing are prohibited in game refuges, bird sanctuaries, marine and seashore parks.
The President may amend, modify, replace, or rescind any contracts or privileges in the national interest, and may order summary suspension for violations pending hearings.