PRESIDENT President Duterte on Monday night said he is willing to pay small-time “illegal loggers” who would help cut fallen trees in areas hit by typhoon “Odette” last month to turn the trees into reusable materials for building of houses.
The President, during his regular “Talk to the People” address that was aired from Monday night, said only fallen trees would be cut to reusable lumber.
Duterte said the illegal loggers, sawmill operators, and other interested workers can coordinate with Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu, as the use of chainsaws would need permits.
“I am encouraging the illegal loggers, iyung mga small time, go back there. Somebody will take a census or whatever and make it a formal document at ako ang magbayad sa trabaho ninyo… Opisina ko na ang magbayad para madali (I am encouraging the illegal loggers, the small time, to go back there. Somebody will take a census or whatever and make it a formal document and I will pay for your work… My office will pay for that),” he said.
Ricardo Jalad, administrator of the Office of the Civil Defense and executive director of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said 1.3 million houses in 11 regions were damaged by Odette, and almost 340,000 individuals are still staying in 1,146 evacuation centers.
Data from the Department of Social Welfare and Development-Disaster Response Operations Monitoring and Information Center (DSWD-DROMIC) showed that as of January 24, about 1.63 million houses were damaged in Regions IV-B (Mimaropa), VI (Western Visayas), VII (Central Visayas), VIII (Eastern Visayas), IX (Zamboanga Peninsula), X (Northern Mindanao), and XIII (Caraga).
