GUIDELINES IN THE CONFISCATION, FORFEITURE AND DISPOSITION OF CONVEYANCES USED IN THE COMMISSION OF OFFENSES PENALIZED UNDER SECTION 68, P.D. 705, AS AMENDED BY EXECUTIVE ORDER …
705, as amended, and as further amended by Executive Order No. 277,
Series of 1987, the following guidelines and procedures in the
confiscation, forfeiture and disposition of conveyances used in the
commission of offenses penalized under P.D. 705, as amended, and other
forestry laws, rules and regulations are hereby promulgated for the
information and guidance of all concerned.
SECTION 1. Definition of Conveyance . The
term conveyance as used in these guidelines includes any type or class
of vehicle, craft, whether motorized or not, used either in land, water
or air, or a combination thereof or any mode of transport used in the
movement of any forest products including all its implements and
accessories.
SECTION 2. Conveyances Subject to Confiscation and Forfeiture
. All conveyance used in the transport of any forest product obtained
or gathered illegally whether or not covered with transport documents
found spurious or irregular in accordance with Section 68-A of P.D. 705,
shall be confiscated in favor of the government or disposed of in
accordance with pertinent laws, regulations or policies on the matter.
SECTION 3. Requirement to TransportForest Products.
Before any forest product shall be transported, the shipper and
conveyance owner or their duly authorized representatives shall enter
into a transport agreement under oath on a form prescribed for the
purpose and shall submit the same to the CENRO as a basis for the
issuance of the transport documents covering the forest products to be
shipped/transported. The transport agreement shall contain the
undertaking that the conveyance owner shall also be held liable in case
of illegally transported forest product.
SECTION 4. Who are Authorized to Seize Conveyance.
The Secretary or his duly authorized representative such as the forest
officers and/or natural resources officers, or deputized officers of the
DENR are authorized to seize said conveyance subject to policies and
guidelines pertinent thereto. Deputized military personnel and officials
of other agencies apprehending illegal logs and other forest products
and their conveyances shall notify the nearest DENR field offices, and
turn over said forest products and conveyances for proper action and
disposition. In case where the apprehension is made by DENR field
offices, the conveyance shall be deposited with the nearest
CENRO/PENRO/RED Office as the case may be, for safekeeping wherever it
is most convenient and secured.
SECTION 5. Action on Illegally Used Conveyances
. The disposition of confiscated illegally used conveyances shall be
governed by the provisions of Section 9 hereof. In no case shall a
conveyance seized or held in custody be released without the prior
approval of the Secretary or his duly authorized representative in
accordance with these regulations.
SECTION 6. Report of Confiscation/Seizure .
Whenever a seizure is made under these rules, the forest officers or
natural resources officers concerned shall submit a report thereof
within three (3) days to the Secretary or his duly authorized
representative.
SECTION 7. Notice to Owner. For the purpose
only of complying with due process, the Secretary, RED/PENRO/CENRO or
their duly authorized representatives shall give the owne or his
representative a written notice of the seizure and shall give him an
opportunity to be heard in reference to the ground or reason for the
seizure by requiring said owner or representative to submit sworn
statements or affidavits within three (3) days from receipt of such
written notice or they may elect to have a formal hearing conducted, but
they must signify their intention in writing within the same period.
For the purpose of such notice and all proceedings connected with
confiscation, “representative” shall be deemed to include not only
representative-in-fact of the owner but also any person having
possession of the conveyance at the time of confiscation or seizure.
SECTION 8. Report/Recommendation . Upon
receipt of the aforecited sworn statement/affidavit of the owner or
representative or if none is received despite due notice, the
PENRO/CENRO or any authorized representative of the DENR for the matter
shall determine if the seized conveyance was used in the commission of
the offense as contemplated in Section 2 hereof, and shall render a
report thereon within one week accompanied by the evidence he has
gathered including his recommendations to the Secretary or the Regional
Executive Director, as the case may be.
SECTION 9. Disposition of Conveyance . All
conveyances found to have been used in the transport of any forest
product from illegal sources and/or covered by spurious documents shall
be declared forfeited in favor of the government in accordance with Sec.
68-A of PD 705, as amended. Forfeited conveyances may be used, at the
discretion of the DENR, in the forest protection and development
activities, otherwise, the same shall be disposed of through public
auction by the Secretary or the Regional Office, as the case may be, in
accordance with existing policies and procedures for the disposition of
government property.
SECTION 10. Temporary Release of Conveyance .
After one (1) month from confiscation and the case has not yet been
resolved, an application for the temporary release pending resolution of
the case may be filed with the Secretary upon compliance with the
following requirements:
a) Posting of a cash bond equal to the value of the conveyance
or a GSIS surety bond double the value of the conveyance as determined
by the Commission on Audit;b) Guarantee from a responsible public official that the
conveyance will be produced whenever required by the DENR during the
pendency of the case.
In no case, however, shall a conveyance be temporarily released where:
a) The transport of the forest products is not covered by the
transport agreement as mentioned in Section 3 hereof or where said
document purported to be a transport agreement is fictitious or invalid;b) The owner or his duly authorized representative has a
previous derogatory record involving the same or similar irregularity in
the DENR;c) The irregularity is so patent that an ordinary prudent man exercising due diligence could not have detected the same.
SECTION 12. Criminal Action . The confiscation
of the conveyance under these regulations shall be without prejudice to
any criminal action which shall be filed against the owner thereof or
any person who used the conveyance in the commission of the offense.
SECTION 13. Repealing Clause . MNR Circular No.
10, series of 1983, MNR Memorandum Order No. 2, series of 1984, and all
other orders, circulars, and issuances inconsistent herewith are hereby
repealed and/or modified accordingly.
SECTION 14. Effectivity . This Order shall take effect immediately.
Adopted: 22 June 1990
(SGD.) FULGENCIO S. FACTORAN, JR.
Secretary