The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has asked law enforcers to get the killers of a community environment and natural resources officer in Quirino province, condemning the latest attack as “another attempt to silence them.”

“We condemn in the strongest possible terms the killing of yet another environment officer in Region II. We are angered and outraged by the attack, and our hearts go out to the family of CENRO Alfredo Almueda,” Environment Secretary Ramon Paje said in a statement.

The DENR chief called on the National Bureau of Investigation and the Philippine National Police to “act decisively to bring to justice the perpetrators of this terrible crime.”

Paje also stressed the DENR will not be intimidated by the enemies of the environment and those who oppose the government’s drive against illegal loggers.

Similarly, Senator Loren Legarda denounced the killing:“This is a disheartening act of cowardice, and those responsible must be made to answer for their actions.”

Legarda, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Climate Change and founder of Luntiang Pilipinas, underscored the link between illegal logging to disasters caused by natural hazards in the country.

Because of this, the senator called on local governments, especially in provinces plagued by rampant illegal logging, “to heighten their efforts in ensuring the security of our hardworking environment officers.”

“We need to examine our weakness in governance, especially our poor implementation of our environmental laws and the persistence of illegal logging,” she added.

She said the disaster in Cagayan de Oro and Iligan in 2011 was related to the massive illegal logging operations that exacerbated the effect of typhoon Sendong.

“Thus, protecting our forests and wetlands in order to enhance the capacity of the environment to withstand extreme weather disturbances is a must across the country,” she stressed.

Two gunmen
On New Year’s Day, Almueda, 59, was shot and killed by two unidentified men armed with assault weapons while manning a checkpoint in Maddela town along with two foresters.

Almueda was the first DENR official in Cagayan Valley region to be killed in the line of duty since February last year when DENR forest specialist Melania Dirain was shot and killed in her office in Sanchez Mira, Cagayan.

According to police, Almueda was attacked in Barangay Villasur past 12 a.m. on January 1 while he and forest guards Gene Martin and Ronaldo Calonge were at a DENR checkpoint on a dirt road leading to Barangay San Pedro.

Police also said that the DENR team proceeded to the area after they got a tip through text message that a shipment of illegally cut logs would be passing there.

Almueda died from a bullet in the right eye after his pickup truck was peppered with 11 bullets. Police recovered 22 shells from an M-16 rifle in the crime scene.

“This attack clearly demonstrates the ruthlessness of those responsible for the rape and destruction of our forests,” Paje said.

Paje also recognized Almueda for his dedication in performing his duties and contribution to protecting the environment and in serving the people of Cagayan Valley.

Almueda, a former acting provincial environment and natural resources officer in Isabela, was a top performing CENRO in Cagayan Valley from 2010 to 2012.