Legal basis and policy objectives
- Executive Order No. 277 amends P.D. No. 705, otherwise known as the Revised Forestry Code of the Philippines.
- The issuance is grounded on the urgency to conserve remaining forest resources for the benefit and welfare of present and future generations.
- The issuance mandates stronger and more vigilant enforcement of forestry laws, rules, and regulations.
- Executive Order No. 277 is enacted to address technical difficulties arising from inadequacies in the penal provisions of the Revised Forestry Code and to make forestry laws responsive to present realities.
Amendment to Section 68: illegal cutting/collection/possession
- Section 1 amends Section 68 of P.D. No. 705 by expanding the penalty-covered acts to include cutting, gathering, collecting, removing, and possessing timber or other forest products without the legal documents required by existing forest laws and regulations.
- Any person who cuts, gathers, collects, or removes timber or other forest products from forest land, or timber from alienable or disposable public land, or from private land, without any authority, is punished under the penalties set in Articles 309 and 310 of the Revised Penal Code.
- Any person who possesses timber or other forest products without the legal documents required under existing forest laws and regulations is punished under the penalties set in Articles 309 and 310 of the Revised Penal Code.
- For partnerships, associations, or corporations, Section 68 as amended provides that the officers who ordered the cutting, gathering, collection, or possession are liable.
- For corporate or association cases where the officers who ordered the acts are aliens, the alien officers are deported in addition to the penalty without further proceedings on the part of the Commission on Immigration and Deportation.
- Section 68 as amended requires the Court to order confiscation in favor of the government of the timber or forest products cut, gathered, collected, removed, or possessed, as well as the machinery, equipment, implements, and tools illegally used in the area where the timber or forest products are found.
Added Section 68-A: Department authority to order confiscation
- Section 2 adds Section 68-A, granting administrative authority to the Department Head or his duly authorized representative.
- For all cases of violations of the Code or other forest laws, rules, and regulations, the Department Head or his duly authorized representative may order the confiscation of forest products illegally cut, gathered, removed, or possessed, or abandoned.
- Section 68-A authorizes confiscation of all conveyances used either by land, water, or air in the commission of the offense.
- The Department is directed to dispose of confiscated items in accordance with pertinent laws, regulations, or policies on the matter.
Added Section 68-B: rewards for informants
- Section 2 adds Section 68-B, creating a reward scheme for informants.
- Any person who provides information leading to the apprehension and conviction of an offender for any violation of the Code or other forest laws, rules and regulations, or for confiscation of forest products, is entitled to a reward.
- The reward is twenty percentum (20%) of the proceeds of the confiscated forest products.
Repealing clause and transitory effect
- Section 3 provides that all laws, orders, issuances, rules, and regulations, or parts thereof, inconsistent with Executive Order No. 277 are hereby repealed or modified accordingly.