BAGUIO CITY – Councilor Fred Bagbagen has proposed an ordinance prescribing the guidelines on the disposition of logs and lumber from trees cut and retrieved by the city government.
The proposed measure aims to boost the intention of Ordinance No. 6 series of 2010 which spelled out general rules in the use of the retrieved logs.
Ordinance No. 06-2010 provides that “All felled logs and cut firewood with permit by the City Mayor within public lands, parks, forest and watershed reservations except those cut logs issued by the DENR, shall be used by the City Government of Baguio. These felled logs and firewood shall be deposited at the City Forest Nursery of the City Environment and Parks Management Office (CEPMO) or area designated by the same office. These logs and firewood shall only be used for city or barangay projects;”
Section 15 of the same ordinance also mandates that “an applicant who uses the felled logs and cut firewood as stated in this ordinance should pay the corresponding cost estimated by the CEPMO and/or city forest officers. Payments should be at the Office of the Treasury.”
The proposed guidelines provide that usable logs retrieved shall be converted into lumber for the fabrication of office furniture, cabinets, fixtures and landscaping materials in parks and others.
The remaining center – rot trunks, branches, stems which are deposited and stored at the City Forest Nursery at Botanical Garden may be issued for firewood while some to be manufactured into rustic furniture and other decorative materials by the skilled laborers of the CEPMO for the use of the Dominican Hill and Retreat House and other city government offices.
The remaining manufactured rustic furniture for the year shall be disposed through public auction or any appropriate disposal process.
This will apply to all city government offices without appropriations intended for furniture and fixtures, and landscaping materials; victims of calamities like typhoons, landslides, and earthquakes needing lumbers for repair; poor and less fortunate inhabitants of the City needing wood for coffin and firewood during vigil and burial of departed love ones;
Public schools needing construction materials to improve their classroom and school facilities; the different barangays to support projects which have no funds or appropriations from either the local or national government; the applicant granted permit to cut tree/s within public lands and other forest reservation for firewood; and private individuals requesting firewood for wedding ceremonies and other indigenous rituals.
Through the Forest Watershed Management Division, CEPMO will act upon all requests relative to the provisions of this ordinance with the city mayor as the approving authority and signatory.
The proposal also includes the required documents for requests as follows:
For city government offices, public schools and barangay units provided the following documents and submitted: letter request addressed to the CEPMO; certification of non-availability of funds from concerned office or agency; bill of materials estimated by City Buildings and Architecture Office (CBAO); design to be fabricated; and validation, clearance and/or recommendation from CEPMO;
For private individuals: letter request addressed to the CEPMO; certification from City Social Welfare and Development Office (CSWDO) for calamity victims; certification from CSWDO for indigents, less fortunate and the needy; and validation, clearance and/or recommendation from CEPMO.
The fees proposed are: good lumber regardless of length and width — P45.00 per board foot.; lumber with defects (cracked, partially rotten) — P30.00/bd. ft.; firewood/branches — P400.00 per cubic meter; felled logs with tree cutting permit issued by the City Mayor and suitable for lumber — P18 per board foot; felled logs with tree cutting permit issued by the City Mayor but are suitable for firewood including branches — P400.00 per cubic meter.
City government gffices and the different Barangay units needing lumbers for furniture and other wood projects could be granted gratis provided the requirement are accomplished and presented.
Victims of calamities such as typhoons, earthquakes and landslides could also be given gratis including the less fortunate especially during the vigil and burial of departed love ones after the submission of the same requirements.
To effectively and efficiently implement the task, the CEPMO may hire job order artisan/s and/or lumberjack/s as it may deem necessary subject to any rules and regulations and other existing laws;
The measure was approved on first reading by the city council./Denver Jeremiah Ebba
