Rules on Narra Extraction and Transport

Legal basis, policy intent, and objectives

DENR Administrative Order No. 58, Series of 1993 is issued pursuant to Executive Order No. 192.
DENR Administrative Order No. 58, Series of 1993 implements a State policy to ensure sustainable productivity, socio-economic stability, and equity in access to natural resources.
Section 1 establishes the basic policy to conserve Narra resources through nationalized extraction and optimized utilization, and to sustain the economic efficiency of narra-based industries.
Section 1 sets the following objectives:
- Regulate Narra utilization by dependent industries on a sustainable basis.
- Provide a steady and adequate supply of Narra raw materials to dependent industries.
- Optimize utilization of Narra timber and its derivatives.
- Provide other stable livelihood opportunities to communities dependent on Narra trade.
- Ensure sustainable development of Narra stands.
- Generate additional government revenues from Narra extraction.

Defined terms for Narra governance

Section 2 defines Allowable Clearing as a designated area(s) within forest lands where cutting of all existing vegetation is allowed (e.g., log landings, skidways, road networks).
Section 2 defines Clearcutting as removal of all timber species within a designated forest stand during one (1) cutting season usually prescribed for harvesting plantations.
Section 2 defines Finished Product as a whole end-product ready for use without need of further manufacture.
Section 2 defines Furniture Manufacturer as a person engaged in wooden furniture production from wood from raw log, flitch, or lumber forms.
Section 2 defines Knocked-Down Wood Product as a finished or semi-finished end-product whose components are taken apart for ease in packing, handling, and transporting.
Section 2 defines Labor-Intensive Logging as cutting or extracting timber from public forest areas using non-mechanized logging and transport equipment.
Section 2 defines Primary Processing as conversion of logs and other wood raw materials into lumber and veneer.
Section 2 defines Semi-Finished Product as a whole end-product requiring final stages of manufacture and/or assembly.
Section 2 defines Truck Logging as mechanized cutting or extraction from public forest areas using logging and transport equipment, including self-loading trucks, tractors, and bulldozers.

Covered areas, permits, and conditions to cut

Section 3 identifies available areas for Narra extraction:
- Private lands (titled lands; alienable and disposable lands with approved public land applications under the Public Land Act; emancipation patents subject to Section 4 conditions).
- Allowable clearings with civil or military reservations, resettlement or settlement areas subject to DENR-approved operations plans.
- Areas within existing Timber License Agreements (TLAs) / Timber Production Sharing Agreements (TPSAs), contingent on agreement terms and conditions.
- Community Forestry Program (CFP) areas, based on approved management and development plans (whether required development activities are completed or not).
- Areas covered by cancelled and expired TLAs that may later be covered by TPSA, IFMA, or CFP where development of open areas is already completed.
- Buffer zones within Integrated Protected Areas System (IPAS) where limited community extraction is permitted.
- Areas covered by Phase II of the Forest Land Management Program (FLMP).
- Areas reforested within Forestland Grazing Agreement by the Lessee.
- Other areas later made available by the DENR Secretary.
Section 4 prohibits felling any Narra tree within private lands without a Special Private Land Timber Permit (SPLTP).
Section 4 limits issuance of SPLTPs to owners of private lands covered by administrative or judicial titles such as Free Patent and Torrens Title obtained under Republic Act No. 496, as amended (Land Registration Act).
Section 4 allocates permit-issuing authority by volume:
- PENRO: not to exceed 5 cubic meters.
- RED: not to exceed 10 cubic meters.
- Secretary or his designated Undersecretary: in excess of 10 cubic meters.
Section 4 requires SPLTP issuance only upon compliance with conditions:
- The trees authorized to be cut must be inventoried by the concerned CENRO, with a report and corresponding maps showing the number and relative locations of Narra trees to be cut and to be left for future harvests.
- Assessment must be based on gross volume with no deductions, with corresponding payment of forest charges for the volume of trees to be cut.
- The permittee must plant and maintain for three (3) years at least five (5) Narra seedlings for every tree authorized to be cut (and the CENRO must identify an area for planting if additional area is needed).
Section 5 requires inventory of remaining Narra stocks within identified extraction areas, including particularly expired and/or cancelled TLAs not covered by any recent inventory, to be done by duly accredited and authorized persons/organizations, with resulting reports under oath.

Tree marking, harvesting schemes, and log yards

Section 6 requires that Narra trees found within the identified cutting area inside public forestlands must be:
- Numbered consecutively.
- Properly marked as to be cut or to be left.
Section 6 prohibits cutting before tree marking and validation by the concerned CENRO.
Section 6 establishes DBH-based marking rules:
- Narra trees in the 20 to 40 cm. DBH classes must be marked to be left.
- Narra trees in the 60 cm. and above DBH classes must be marked for cutting.
- Narra trees in the 50 cm. DBH class require 50% marked to be left and 50% marked for cutting.
Section 7 requires that harvesting follow prescribed harvesting methods:
- Labor-Intensive Logging (CFP areas):
  - CFP communities harvest using traditional methods with carabaos.
  - Carabao loggers living within or adjacent to forested areas are encouraged to organize into cooperatives for CFP participation.
  - Extracted Narra must be bucked into log lengths for transport by carabaos and other work animals to the designated log yard.
  - Flitching or log-splitting by chainsaw is discouraged to maximize utilization/recovery.
  - Splitting into halves or quarters may be allowed for Narra logs of 60 cm. and larger whose lengths are too heavy to be drawn by carabao.
  - Extraction is subject to strict supervision by the CENRO, ensuring only Narra species is extracted, especially where CFP community organizing and development activities are not yet completed.
- Truck Logging (TLA/TPSA/IFMA areas):
  - Harvest Narra timber under selective logging principles.
  - Comply with the prohibition on the use of highlead yarding.
- Clearcutting (private lands and plantations):
  - Narra trees may be harvested through clearcutting with due consideration to soil erosion control measures.
- For labor-intensive logging and truck logging, only Narra trees reaching 50 cm. DBH and above may be harvested.
- Maximum utilization of felled Narra trees—including tops and branches and stumps—is required.
Section 8 requires log yard establishment and controls:
- All Narra harvested from public lands must be bucked into log lengths and deposited to a designated log yard of the associations or corporations identified by the CENRO, subject to Regional Office concurrence.
- Narra logs not delivered to the designated log yard are presumed illegal and are subject to outright confiscation.
- DENR scalers duly designated by the CENRO must scale logs at the cutting area to ensure correct forest charges, including tops and branches and stumps.
- Only logs with proper DENR marking hatchet marks and with assessed forest charges duly paid may be transported from the log yards to authorized wood processing plants.
- A post-harvest assessment by the CENRO or authorized representative must be undertaken immediately in cutting areas to determine logging damages to trees marked to be left, and the report must form the basis for silvicultural fees and/or penalties payable by the permit holder.

Marketing, primary processing, and allocation rules

Section 9 requires that wood requirements of all registered Narra-based manufacturers, associations, or cooperatives sourcing from CFP areas and other lands must be purchased from designated log yards.
Section 9 limits purchases to manufacturers based in the locality where Narra is extracted.
Section 9 requires primary processing only within processing plants duly authorized by the DENR for that purpose, except where wood users want labor-intensive methods (e.g., handsaws).
Section 9 mandates strict monitoring and supervision of milling operations and labor-intensive processing of Narra logs by authorized CENRO personnel.
Section 9 requires cooperatives/associations to be responsible for allocating output to their respective members.
Section 9 imposes allocation requirements for Narra harvested within TLA/TPSA/IFMA areas:
- 50% of output must be allocated for disposition to Narra-based manufacturers’ associations or cooperatives within the province where Narra is extracted.
- The TLA-holder may allocate the remaining 50% for its own use or for disposition to other processors or users, whether or not within the province where Narra is extracted.

Transport documentation and export limitation

Section 10 requires that local transport of Narra logs duly paid for by the manufacturer, association, or cooperative from designated log yards or other storage areas must be accompanied by:
- A Certificate of Origin (CO) issued by the concerned DENR personnel together with the auxiliary invoice.
- An information sheet detailing log source (area and log pond), volume, processing plant destination, and conveyance used.
Section 10 prohibits export of any Narra log or lumber.
Section 10 allows export of Narra finished products such as furniture, novelty items, and similar products.

Transport rules for finished products and semi-finished goods

Section 11 requires that every shipment of finished, semi-finished, and knocked-down Narra-based wood products transported must be accompanied by a certification issued by the concerned CENRO certifying legitimacy of origin.
Section 11 requires, for raw Narra lumber subject for allocation to member manufacturers of an association or cooperative, presentation of:
- A Certificate of Origin (CO) issued by the concerned CENRO.
- An information sheet stating the volume of Narra lumber allocated per manufacturer.
Section 11 requires that for TLA/TPSA/IFMA operations, a separate CO issued by the concerned CENRO must accompany shipments representing the allowable volume for disposition to other processors or users outside the province.
Section 12 allows semi-finished wood products to be transported outside the province where raw materials were sourced for further/final processing.
Section 13 requires immediate reporting to the nearest DENR office of Narra uprooted/toppled by typhoons, earthquakes, landslides, and other calamities and drifted where ownership cannot be established.
Section 13 requires the concerned DENR office to order determination of claim validity and assessment of forest charges based on actual dimensions of the Narra logs/flitches/etc. when originally found without allowance for natural defects.
Section 13 allows disposal to legitimate claimant(s) only after payment of forest charges, with transport documents required under Section 10.
Section 13 requires that if claimants do not exercise their privilege, the drifted Narra products be turned over to the CENRO for disposition through bidding under applicable existing laws, rules, and regulations.

Sustainable development, plantation requirements, and cutting ban

Section 14 requires making open areas and inadequately-stocked or marginalized forest areas suitable for plantation development available for Narra plantations to supply future Narra wood requirements.
Section 14 provides that associations/cooperatives of furniture manufacturers and other Narra-based industries shall be allotted specific areas under Industrial Forest Plantation Management Agreement.
Section 14 encourages Forest Land Managers under the FLMA to interplant Narra and other premium hardwood species in open areas of established plantations.
Section 14 requires TLA/TPSA/IFMA holders to plant Narra and other premium species in enrichment planting, assisted natural regeneration, and timber stand improvement activities, particularly in areas where the same has been extracted.
Section 15 imposes a cutting ban: no Narra tree may be cut/felled when in its flowering and/or fruiting stage.
Section 16 requires using Narra as a major reforestation species in all regions where feasible.

Transitory stock declaration and CO issuance limits

Section 17 requires Narra furniture manufacturers and other wood users to declare existing Narra stocks within their premises within three (3) months from the effectivity of the Order.
Section 17 requires DENR Regional Office validation of stock declarations and uses validated declarations as basis for issuance of Certificates of Origin during transport of Narra finished products until the validated stock is exhausted.
Section 17 prohibits CENRO issuance of any Certificate of Origin unless:
- Forest charges based on the volume of wood utilized in processing the finished product have been paid; and
- The wood utilized is part of Narra stocks previously declared.
Section 17 directs that forest charges assessed per cubic meter are governed by Department Administrative Order No. 39, Series of 1993.

Illegal acts, penalties, and enforcement guidance

Section 18 declares illegal the cutting, harvesting, gathering, transport, and processing of Narra without a permit.
Section 18 provides that violators shall be punished in accordance with Section 68 of P.D. 705, as amended, and other appropriate laws.
Section 19 authorizes the Office of the Undersecretary for Field Operations to issue additional instructions or circulars to clarify or interpret issues and ensure effective implementation of the Order.

Repeals and effect on inconsistent issuances

Section 20 repeals and/or amends all orders, memoranda, circulars inconsistent with the provisions of the Order.