Sold hot logs intercepted in Dy turf

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya , Philippines  – Isabela Gov. Grace Padaca yesterday lambasted the interception by village officials reportedly identified with Alicia town Mayor Napoleon Dy of four truckloads of lumber which had been “legally” bid out by the provincial government while they were passing through the Dys’ bailiwick town. 

The interception of the logs came a day after the Commission on Elections Second Division came out with its decision on Tuesday on the electoral protest of Dy’s elder brother, former governor Benjamin Dy, declaring the elder Dy the real winner of the gubernatorial race in the 2007 elections and ordered Padaca to vacate her post.

“Just a day after the promulgation of the decision favoring the Dys, their arrogant use of power is once again felt,” she said.

“Is this a sign of things to come?” asked the embattled Padaca, who vowed to fight her ouster all the way to the Supreme Court.

A former hard-hitting broadcaster here, Padaca, who defeated then incumbent governor Faustino Dy Jr., the eldest of the Dy scions, in the 2004 elections, ending the family’s hold on to the governorship, which they had held for more than three decades, is seeking her third and final term against another Dy scion, this time outgoing Third District Rep. Faustino Dy III.

The bidding for the intercepted 455,000 board feet of lumber, now being impounded in Alicia town, a known bailiwick of the Dys, had been won by several buyers based in Bulacan and Metro Manila during an auction conducted recently by the provincial government. 

The bid-out logs were part of the more than 1.8 million board feet of lumber which had earlier been confiscated by the provincial government’s anti-illegal logging task force, which Padaca had reactivated last year in a bid to end the age-old illegal logging activities in the province.

Padaca said the provincial government’s bidding for the confiscated illegal logs had the approval of DENR Secretary Lito Atienza and the Natural Resources Development Corp., with the bulk of the proceeds going to provincial coffers.

Political harassment?

Mayor Dy, who is running for the congressional seat of his brother Rep. Dy III against the Padaca-backed Vice Gov. Ramon Reyes, belied Padaca’s charges that the interception was a form of harassment against her camp.

“(Our men) were only doing their job and we coordinated this matter with the DENR.”

“Is there anything wrong with confirming if the lumber had all the proper papers for transport?” said Mayor Dy, who clarified that the interception was done not by his political supporters as alleged, but by police and barangay officials.

“We will be releasing the logs if their documents are found to be legal. Besides, the lumber does not belong to (Padaca) but to the province of Isabela. How then could there be any political harassment?” Dy further asked.

According to Padaca, the lumber seized in Alicia town had already undergone clearance from DENR officials and were covered by pertinent papers which made the seizure in Alicia town questionable.

“These (logs) went through the process of bidding and are covered by pertinent papers. The provincial government has been very strict in observing rules and regulations in everything pertaining to the activities of the (task force),” Padaca said.

“After the capital town of Ilagan where the four trucks took off, they passed through the towns of Gamu, Naguilian, Cauayan and Alicia. Only in Alicia were they held and questioned,” she added.