Illegal loggers eyed in slay attempt on Surigao doctor

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Philippines – Small-time illegal loggers could be behind the shooting of a physician-environmentalist on Monday in Carmen, Surigao del Sur, an executive of a large logging company said yesterday.

Rowil Aguillon, woods division head of the Surigao Development Corp. (Sudecor), said the attempt on the life of Dr. Isidro Olan could be the handiwork of unprofessional gunmen.

Olan is the executive director of Lovers of Nature Foundation Inc., which has partnered with Sudecor in a reforestation project in watershed areas in the villages of Puyat and Hubason in Carmen town for about 10 years now. 

Aguillon said it is likely that the attackers were not highly trained guns-for-hire, citing their position when they ambushed Olan near his house.

Expert gunmen could have positioned themselves on a high ground where they could have a better vantage point, he said. 

Aguillon said the gunmen were probably just small-scale illegal loggers who were arrested in a watershed area. 

Olan was his way home onboard a Toyota Fortuner with his wife Olive when they were waylaid. He is now recovering in a hospital for a gunshot wound in the right shoulder.

Based on police reports, spent shells from a .45-caliber pistol, .22-caliber pistol and a shotgun were found in the crime scene. 

Aguillon said Olan had received information on plans to either kidnap or shoot him since last month.

“We kept on warning him (Olan) that there was an attempt on his life,” Aguillon told The STAR in a phone interview yesterday.

He added that they have even discussed with him ways on how to counter those threats. 

Lovers of Nature has so far planted various native wood species in a 20-hectare watershed area. – With Cecille Suerte Felipe