Amendment Penalizing Illegal Timber Possession

Executive Order No. 277 amends Section 68 of Presidential Decree (P.D.) No. 705, as amended, known as the Revised Forestry Code of the Philippines.
The stated purpose is penalizing possession of timber or other forest products without the legal documents required by existing forest laws.
The stated purpose is authorizing confiscation of illegally cut, gathered, removed, and possessed forest products.
The stated purpose is granting rewards to informers of violations of forestry laws, rules, and regulations.
The issuance is anchored on the urgency to conserve remaining forest resources for the welfare of present and future generations and to address technical difficulties caused by inadequacies in existing penal provisions.

Section 1 amends Section 68 of P.D. No. 705 (Revised Forestry Code), as amended.
Section 2 further amends P.D. No. 705 by adding Sections 68-A and 68-B.
Executive Order No. 277 cross-references the Revised Penal Code through Articles 309 and 310 for penalties.
Section 2 expands enforcement powers within the framework of forestry laws, rules and regulations.

Amended Section 68 punishes any person who cuts, gathers, collects, removes timber or other forest products from forest land, or timber from alienable or disposable public land, or from private land, without authority.
Amended Section 68 also punishes any person who possesses timber or other forest products without the legal documents required under existing forest laws and regulations.
The penalty is the penalties imposed under the Revised Penal Code, specifically Articles 309 and 310.
In cases involving partnerships, associations, or corporations, the officers who ordered the cutting, gathering, collection, or possession shall be liable.
If the officers who ordered the acts are aliens, they are subject to deportation in addition to the penalty, without further proceedings on the part of the Commission on Immigration and Deportation.

Amended Section 68 requires the Court to order the confiscation in favor of the government of the timber or any forest products that are cut, gathered, collected, removed, or possessed.
Amended Section 68 further requires confiscation of the machinery, equipment, implements and tools illegally used in the area where the timber or forest products are found.
Section 68-A authorizes the Department Head or his duly authorized representative to order confiscation in all cases of violations of the Code or other forest laws, rules and regulations.
Section 68-A covers confiscation of forest products that are illegally cut, gathered, removed, or possessed, or abandoned, and includes all conveyances used by land, water, or air in the commission of the offense.
Section 68-A directs disposition of confiscated items in accordance with pertinent laws, regulations or policies.

Section 68-B provides that any person who gives information leading to the apprehension and conviction of any offender for violations of the forestry laws, rules and regulations, or for confiscation of forest products, is entitled to a reward.
The reward amount is twenty percentum (20%) of the proceeds of the confiscated forest products.
Section 68-B makes the reward dependent on the information leading to both apprehension and conviction.

Section 3 repeals or modifies any laws, orders, issuances, rules and regulations, or parts thereof, inconsistent with Executive Order No. 277.
Section 4 sets the implementation timing by requiring publication and a 15-day waiting period before effectivity.