Question & AnswerQ&A (Republic Act No. 115)
The main purpose of Republic Act No. 115 is to provide funds for reforestation and afforestation of denuded areas and cogon or open lands within forest reserves, communal forests, national parks, timber lands, sand dunes, and other public forest lands in the Philippines, as well as to provide penalties for violations of its provisions.
There shall be an additional charge of fifty centavos on each cubic meter of timber for the first and second groups and forty centavos for the third and fourth groups cut out and removed from any public forest for commercial purposes.
The funds shall be used for reforestation and afforestation of watersheds, denuded areas, cogon and open lands, growing of economic trees for timber and other products, watershed protection, prevention of erosion and floods, preparation of plans and cost estimates, reconnaissance survey of public forest lands, and other necessary expenses to carry out the purposes of this Act.
All revenues collected from the additional timber charges and from the sale of barks, medicinal plants, and other products derived from the plantations established under this Act shall constitute the Reforestation Fund, which shall be used exclusively for the purposes of the Act.
All provincial or city treasurers and their deputies act as agents of the Director of Forestry for collecting the revenues or incomes derived from the provisions of this Act.
The Director of Forestry, with the approval of the Secretary of Agriculture and Commerce, is empowered to promulgate necessary rules and regulations to carry into effect the purposes of the Act, and to approve expenditures from the Reforestation Fund.
The Director of Forestry must submit an annual report to the President of the Philippines, through the Secretary of Agriculture and Commerce, detailing the locations and areas reforested or afforested, costs incurred, income derived, and other pertinent data regarding the implementation of the Act.
They shall be liable for a fine of not less than five hundred pesos and a surcharge of twenty-five percent of the amount due. Failure to pay within sixty days may result in cancellation of the license and forfeiture of the licensee's bond deposit.
It is considered sufficient cause for the cancellation of the violator's license and the forfeiture of the bond deposit related to the license.
All existing laws or parts thereof contrary to the provisions of this Act are repealed.