QuestionsQuestions (EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 277)
It amends Section 68 of P.D. No. 705 (Revised Forestry Code) to penalize possession/cutting/gathering/removal of timber or forest products without the required legal documents, authorize confiscation of illegally possessed forest products and related tools/equipment, and grant rewards to informers.
Any person who cuts, gathers, collects, or removes timber/other forest products from any forest land or timber from alienable/disposable public land or private land without authority, or who possesses timber/forest products without the legal documents required under existing forestry laws and regulations.
The penalties imposed under Articles 309 and 310 of the Revised Penal Code.
In case of partnerships, associations, or corporations, the officers who ordered the cutting, gathering, collection, or possession are liable.
In addition to the penalty, the alien officer shall be deported without further proceedings on the part of the Commission on Immigration and Deportation.
The court shall order confiscation in favor of the government of the timber/forest products cut, gathered, collected, removed, or possessed, as well as the machinery, equipment, implements, and tools illegally used in the area where the products are found.
It makes mere possession (without required legal documents) a punishable offense even if cutting/gathering/removal is not shown, provided the timber/forest products are possessed without the required forestry permits/documents.
The Department Head or his duly authorized representative may order confiscation of any illegally cut, gathered, removed, or possessed or abandoned forest products and all conveyances used (land, water, or air) in the commission of the offense.
Yes. Confiscated items may be disposed of in accordance with pertinent laws, regulations, or policies.
Section 68 provides that the court shall order confiscation upon punishment; Section 68-A authorizes the Department Head/duly authorized representative to order confiscation administratively in all cases of violations of the Code or other forest laws, rules and regulations.
It grants rewards to persons who provide information leading to the apprehension and conviction of an offender for violations of the forestry laws/rules/regulations, including confiscation cases.
It is twenty percentum (20%) of the proceeds of the confiscated forest products, and it requires that the information provided lead to the apprehension and conviction of the offender.
All conveyances used either by land, water, or air in the commission of the offense.
There is an urgency to conserve remaining forest resources, and existing enforcement faces technical difficulties due to inadequacies in the Revised Forestry Code’s penal provisions; thus certain acts are to be penalized to make the law more responsive to current realities.
It repeals or modifies, accordingly, all laws, orders, issuances, rules and regulations, or parts thereof, inconsistent with the Executive Order.
Fifteen (15) days after publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation in the Philippines.