Revised Forestry Code (PD 705)

Evolution of Forestry Policies

 PD 389, Forestry Reform Code
 CA 452, Pasture Land Act
 Other law inconsistent with PD 705

Governing Law
 PD 705, Revised Forestry Code
Enacted on May 19, 1975, the Revised Forestry Code of the Philippines or PD 705. It is the law governing
the management and utilization of forest lands. This law places emphasis not only on the utilization of of
forest resources but more so on the protection, rehabilitation, and development of forest land, in order to
ensure the continuity of their productive condition. It institutes the proper classification and delimitation
of the lands of the public domain and the management, utilization, protection, rehabilitation, and
development of forestlands.

Forests: Among the most valuable natural resources in the Philippines. They provide a range of ecosystem
services, ranging from the provision of food crops, livestock and fish to providing recreational experiences.
Forests also serve as significant carbon sink and are vital for biological conservation and environmental
protection, locations for education and research, habitat for indigenous flora and fauna, and resettlement
areas.
Public Forests: the mas of lands of the public domain which has not been subject of the present system of
classification for the determination of which lands are needed for forest purposes and which are not.
Forest Lands: include the public forest, the permanent forest or forest reserves and forest reservations

The Philippine Constitution of 1987 particularly Article II, Sec. 16, Article XII, Sec.1-6 and Article Xlll
identified the environment and natural resources as among the major concerns of the government. Forest
management in the country is governed by Presidential Decree No. 705, as amended, otherwise known as
the "Revised Forestry Code of the Philippines". This forestry code outlines the policies of the State in the
management of the forest and its resources.

The Philippine Sustainable Forest Management Strategy (PSFMS) provides the framework for all forestry
programs, projects and activities. This framework is consistent with the provisions of the Philippine
Constitution and supports the Local Government Code of the Philippines (R.A. 7160), the National
Integrated Protected Area System Act (NIPAS Act), and the Indigenous People Rights Act (IPRA Law). It is
also supportive of the government’s commitment to relevant international agreements and covenants.
Executive Order No. 263 (E.O 263) or Community-Based Forest Management (CBFM) is the national
strategy for ensuring the sustainable development of the country’s forest resources.

State Policies (Section 2):

 The multiple uses of forest lands shall be oriented to the development and progress requirements
of the country, the advancement of science and technology, and the public welfare;
 Land classification and survey shall be systematized and hastened;
 The establishment of wood-processing plants shall be encouraged and rationalized; and
 The protection, development and rehabilitation of forest lands shall be emphasized so as to ensure
their continuity in productive condition.
Multiple Use (Section 19):
The numerous beneficial uses of the timber, land, soil, water, wildlife, recreation value and grass of forest
lands shall be evaluated and weighted before allowing the utilization, exploitation, occupation or
possession thereof, or conduct of any activity therein.
Only the utilization, exploitation, occupation, or possession of any forest land, or any activity therein,
involving one or more of its resources, which will produce the optimum benefits to the development and
progress of the country and the public welfare, without impairment or with the least injury to its other
resources, shall be allowed.
All forest reservations may be open to uses not inconsistent with the principal objectives of the reservation:
Provided, That critical watersheds and national parks shall not be subject to logging operations.

Criminal Offenses and Penalties:

(1) Cutting, gathering and/or collecting timber or other products
(a) Two distinct offenses punished under Section 68 PD 705, as amended:
Section 68. Cutting, gathering and/or collecting timber or other products without license.—
Any person who shall cut, gather, collect, or remove timber or other forest products from any
forest land, or timber from alienable and disposable public lands, or from private lands, without
any authority under a license agreement, lease, license or permit, shall be guilty of qualified theft
as defined and punished under Articles 309 and 310 of the Revised Penal Code; Provided, That in
the case of partnership, association or corporation, the officers who ordered the cutting, gathering
or collecting shall be liable, and if such officers are aliens, they shall, in addition to the penalty, be
deported without further proceedings on the part of the Commission on Immigration and
Deportation.
The Court shall further order the confiscation in favor of the government of the timber or
forest products to cut, gathered, collected or removed, and the machinery, equipment,
implements and tools used therein, and the forfeiture of his improvements in the area.
The same penalty plus cancellation of his license agreement, lease, license or permit and perpetual
disqualification from acquiring any such privilege shall be imposed upon any licensee, lessee, or
permittee who cuts timber from the licensed or leased area of another, without prejudice to
whatever civil action the latter may bring against the offender.

Two distinct and separate offenses punished under this Section:

(1) 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
authorization; and
(2) Possession of timber or other forest products without the legal documents required under
existing forest laws and regulations.

Violation of Section 68 of PD 705 is malum prohibitum, and as such criminal intent is not an
essential element. However, the prosecution must prove that petitioners had the intent to possess
(animus possidendi) the timber. (People v. Gutierrez)
Actual and constructive possession. Possession, under the law, includes not only actual possession
but also constructive possession. Actual possession exists when the object of the crime is in the
immediate physical control of the accused while constructive possession exists when the object is
under the dominion and control of the accused or when he has the right to exercise dominion or
control over the place where it is.
 (b) Violations of Section 68 (77) is punished as Qualified Theft
(Not discussed in Agcaoili book, please listen to the discussion.)

Art. 309. Penalties. — Any person guilty of theft shall be punished by:

1. The penalty of prision mayor in its minimum and medium periods, if the value of the
thing stolen is more than 12,000 pesos but does not exceed 22,000 pesos, but if the value of the
thing stolen exceeds the latter amount the penalty shall be the maximum period of the one
prescribed in this paragraph, and one year for each additional ten thousand pesos, but the total of
the penalty which may be imposed shall not exceed twenty years. In such cases, and in connection
with the accessory penalties which may be imposed and for the purpose of the other provisions of
this Code, the penalty shall be termed prision mayor or reclusion temporal, as the case may be.

2. The penalty of prision correccional in its medium and maximum periods, if the value of
the thing stolen is more than 6,000 pesos but does not exceed 12,000 pesos.

3. The penalty of prision correccional in its minimum and medium periods, if the value of
the property stolen is more than 200 pesos but does not exceed 6,000 pesos.

4. Arresto mayor in its medium period to prision correccional in its minimum period, if the
value of the property stolen is over 50 pesos but does not exceed 200 pesos.

5. Arresto mayor to its full extent, if such value is over 5 pesos but does not exceed 50
pesos.

6. Arresto mayor in its minimum and medium periods, if such value does not exceed 5
pesos.

7. Arresto menor or a fine not exceeding 200 pesos, if the theft is committed under the
circumstances enumerated in paragraph 3 of the next preceding article and the value of the thing
stolen does not exceed 5 pesos. If such value exceeds said amount, the provision of any of the five
preceding subdivisions shall be made applicable.

8. Arresto menor in its minimum period or a fine not exceeding 50 pesos, when the value
of the thing stolen is not over 5 pesos, and the offender shall have acted under the impulse of
hunger, poverty, or the difficulty of earning a livelihood for the support of himself or his family.

Art. 310. Qualified theft. — The crime of theft shall be punished by the penalties next higher
by two degrees than those respectively specified in the next preceding article, if committed by a
domestic servant, or with grave abuse of confidence, or if the property stolen is motor vehicle, mail
matter or large cattle or consists of coconuts taken from the premises of the plantation or fish
taken from a fishpond or fishery, or if property is taken on the occasion of fire, earthquake,
typhoon, volcanic erruption, or any other calamity, vehicular accident or civil disturbance. (As
amended by R.A. 120 and B.P. Blg. 71. May 1, 1980).

(c) Lumber is processed log or timber

MUSTANG LUMBER vs. COURT OF APPEALS
 RULING: The foregoing disquisitions should not, in any manner, be construed as an
affirmance of the respondent Judge's conclusion that lumber is excluded from the
coverage of Section 68 of P.D. No. 705, as amended, and thus possession thereof without
the required legal documents is not a crime. On the contrary, the SC rules that such
possession is penalized in the said section because lumber is included in the term timber.
The Revised Forestry Code contains no definition of either timber or lumber. While the
former is included in forest products as defined in paragraph (q) of Section 3, the latter is
found in paragraph (aa) of the same section in the definition of "Processing plant," which
reads: Processing plant is any mechanical set-up, machine or combination of machine used
for the processing of logs and other forest raw materials into lumber, veneer, plywood,
wall bond, block board, paper board, pulp, paper or other finished wood products. This
simply means that lumber is a processed log or processed forest raw material. Clearly, the
Code uses the term lumber in its ordinary or common usage. In the 1993 copyright edition
of Webster's Third New International Dictionary, lumber is defined, inter alia, as "timber
or logs after being prepared for the market." Simply put, lumber is a processed log or
timber. It is settled that in the absence of legislative intent to the contrary, words and
phrases used in a statute should be given their plain, ordinary, and common usage
meaning. And insofar as possession of timber without the required legal documents is
concerned, Section 68 of P.D. No. 705, as amended, makes no distinction between raw or
processed timber.

(d) DENR has jurisdiction over the confiscation of forest products and conveyances used in the
commission of the offense.
- Under Section 68 of PD No. 705, as amended, the regional trial court has jurisdiction
to order the confiscation of the timber or forest products as well as the machinery,
equipment, implements and tools illegally used in the area where the timber or forest
products are found; however, the DENR Secretary or his duly authorized
representative, under Section 68-A of PD No. 705, as amended by EO No. 277, has
jurisdiction to order the confiscation and disposition of all conveyances – by land,
water, or air – used in illegally cutting, gathering, removing, possessing, or abandoning
forest products.

(e) Confiscation proceedings under AO No. 59 different from confiscation under the RPC,
which is an additional penalty imposed in the event of conviction.
(Not discussed in Agcaoili book, please listen to the discussion.)

AO No. 59 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.

RPC Article 45. Confiscation and forfeiture of the proceeds or instruments of the crime. -
Every penalty imposed for the commission of a felony shall carry with it the forfeiture of
the proceeds of the crime and the instruments or tools with which it was committed.

Such proceeds and instruments or tools shall be confiscated and forfeited in favor of the
Government, unless they be property of a third person not liable for the offense, but those
articles which are not subject of lawful commerce shall be destroyed.