By FRANCIS C. HIDALGO JR

TUGUEGARAO CITY, Cagayan – A lady physician and another individual in a northern town here were slapped with illegal logging charges by authorities after they discovered thousands of board feet of alleged hot lumber inside their houses in a raid the other day.

According to forester Vicente Bayucan, community environment and natural resources officer of Santa Praxedes town in the northwestern part of the province, said the illegally cut common hard wood were discovered in the homes of Dr. Dina Baclig and Tiro Cadaoas in Pamplona town the other day after they implemented a court-issued search warrant based on reports that the suspects were keeping illegally-cut lumber.

Seized from Baclig’s house by the joint team consisting of elements for the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), the 2nd provincial mobile group and the Pamplona town police were some 15,000 board feet of common hard wood.

An additional 10,000 board feet of hot logs were discovered in Cadaoas’ lot by the same group.

Authorities are now preparing charges of violation of Presidential Decreee No. 705 or the Anti-Illegal Logging Act against the two. **FCH JR**