Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Palawan wanted to pass a resolution on Tuesday requesting the provincial government and all the municipal officials to provide all barangays with chain saws to be used as part of their disaster preparedness.
Board Member Clarito Demaala IV, author of the resolution, said that these chain saws can help in the preparation of all the local government units, specifically at the barangay level, when there is an impending typhoon or any disasters.
These chain saws are for trimming and cutting down of trees, particularly along the road side and highways for the preparation when there is an upcoming calamity as well as for removing any obstruction or fallen debris that will be caused by any disaster. Aside from the distribution of chain saws, the resolution also seeks to legalize the use of them because some barangays are using illegal chain saws in times of need. “Yung mga ibang barangay kapitan po tino-tolerate ang mga illegal chain saws; kapag may mga disaster hiniram pa nila yung mga illegal na chain saws,” he said.
He said they would coordinate with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Community Environment and Natural Resources (DENR-CENRO), which provides the tree cutting permit, and the Palawan Council for Sustainable Development (PCSD), which is implementing the Chain Saw Act of 2002 or Republic Act 9175. The proposed resolution was referred to the Committee on the Environment for study and recommendation. Republic Act 9175 or the Chain Saw Act regulates the ownership, possession, sale, transfer, importation and/or use of chain saws to prevent them from being used in illegal logging or unauthorized clearing of forests.
The DENR is the agency authorized to issue permits to possess and/or use a chain saw for the felling and/or cutting of trees, timber and other forest or agro-forest products to any applicant who: (a) has a subsisting timber license agreement, production sharing agreement, or similar agreements, or a private land timber permit; (b) is an orchard and fruit tree farmer; (c) is an industrial tree farmer; (d) is a licensed wood processor and the chain saw shall be used for the cutting of timber that has been legally sold to said applicant; or (e) shall use the chain saw for a legal purpose.
Agencies of the government that use chain saws in some aspects of their functions must likewise secure the necessary permit from the Department before operating the same.
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