7) Aquino v.

People of the Philippines

G.R. No. 165448, July 27, 2009, 594 SCRA 50

FACTS:

 On behalf of Teachers’ Camp, Sergio Guzman filed with the Department of

Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) an application for a permit to cut
down 14 dead Benguet pine trees, which had a total volume of 13.37 cubic
meters, within the Teachers’ Camp in Baguio City to be used for the repairs of
Teachers’ Camp. An inspection of the trees to be cut was then conducted.
Thereafter, a permit allowing the cutting of 14 trees was then issued.
 During the cutting of the trees, an information was received by certain forest
rangers that pine trees were being cut at Teachers’ Camp without proper
authority. When they proceeded to the site, they found petitioner Ernesto
Aquino, a forest ranger from CENRO, and Cuteng supervising the cutting of
the trees. The forest rangers found 23 tree stumps, out of which only 12 were
covered by the permit. The volume of the trees cut with permit was 13.58
cubic meters while the volume of the trees cut without permit was 16.55 cubic
meters.
 Consequently, petitioner Aquino, Cuteng, Santiago and others were charged
for violation of Section 68 of PD No. 705.
 The trial court found Aquino, Santiago and Cuteng guilty as charged and
acquitted the others. In their appeal, the Court of Appeals affirmed the
judgment only as to Aquino.
 Hence, this petition.
 Petitioner alleged that he was sent to supervise the cutting of trees at
Teachers’ Camp andthat he was not aware of the trees covered by the permit.
However, he still supervised the cutting of trees without procuring a copy of
the vicinity map used in the inspection of the trees to be cut.

ISSUE:

Whether petitioner Aquino, who supervised the cutting of the pine trees, is
guilty of violating Section 68 of the Revised Forestry Code.

RATIO:

No. Aquino is not guilty of violating Section 68 of the Revised Forestry Code.

Section 68 of the Revised Forestry Code provides two distinct and separate offenses:
(a) Cutting, gathering, collecting and removing timber or other forest products from
any forest land, or timber from alienable or disposable public land, or from private
land without any authority; and (b) Possession of timber or other forest products
without the legal documents required under existing forest laws and regulations.

The aforesaid provision clearly states that it “punishes anyone who shall cut, gather,
collect or remove timber or other forest products from any forest land, or timber
from alienable or disposable public land, or from private land, without any
authority.” In the case at bar, Aquino was not the one who cut, gathered, collected
or removed the pine trees. He was merely the person charged by the CENRO to
supervise the implementation of the permit. He was also not the one in possession of
the cut trees because the lumber was used by Teachers’ Camp.

Although Aquino may have been remiss in his duties when he failed to restrain the
sawyers from cutting trees more than what was covered by the permit, this fact could
only make him administratively liable. “It is not enough to convict him under Section
68 of PD No. 705.”