PD No.

705 or the Revised Forestry Code of the Philippines as amended

Enacted on May 19, 1975, PD 705 revised PD No. 389 (Forestry Reform Code of the Philippines). It
acknowledges the necessity for reassessing the multiple uses of forest lands and resources before allowing
any utilization thereof in order to optimize the benefits that can be derived therefrom. It places emphasis not
only on the utilization but more importantly on the protection, rehabilitation and development of forest lands in
order to ensure the continuity of their productive conditions.

Criminal offenses penalized under Section 68 of PD 705

(1) Cutting, gathering, collecting and removing timber or other forest products from any forest land, or
timber from alienable or disposable public and, or from private land without any authority; and
(2) Possession of timber or other forest products without the legal documents required under existing forest
laws and regulations

Violation of Section 68 is penalized as Qualified Theft under Article 310 in relation to Article 309 of the RPC. (It
is not qualified theft per se, but imposes only a penalty equivalent to that of qualified theft).

The elements of the crime of qualified theft of logs are: (1) that the accused cut, gathered, collected or
removed timber or other forest products; (2) that the timber or other forest products belong to the government
or to any other private individual; and (3) that the cutting, gathering, collecting or removing was without
authority granted by the state.

In the second offense, it is immaterial whether the method of gathering the timber is legal or not. Mere
possession of the forest product without the proper document is a prima facie evidence of the crime.

People of the Philippines v. Que

(G.R. No. 120365, Dec. 17, 1996, 265 SCRA 721)

Syllabus:

There are two distinct and separate offenses punished under Section 68 of PD No. 705, to wit:

(1) Cutting, gathering, collecting and removing timber or other forest products from any forest land, or from
alienable or disposable public land, or from private land without any authority; and

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

In the first offense, one can raise as a defense the legality of the acts of cutting, gathering, collecting or
removing timber or other forest products by presenting the authorization issued by the DENR.

In the second offense, however, it is immaterial whether the cutting, gathering, collecting and removal of the
forest products are legal or not. Mere possession of forest products without the proper documents
consummates the crime. Whether or not the lumber comes from a legal source is immaterial because EO No.
277 considers the mere possession of timber or other forest products without the proper legal documents as
malum prohibitum.

Taopa v. People of the Philippines

G.R. No. 184098, November 25, 2008, 571 SCRA 610

Syllabus:

Section 68 of PD No. 705, as amended, refers to Articles 309 and 310 of the Revised Penal Code for the
penalties to be imposed on violators. Violation of Section 68 of PD No. 705, as amended, is punished as
qualified theft. The law treats cutting, gathering, collecting and possessing timber or other forest products
without license as an offense as grave as and equivalent to the felony of qualified theft.

Illegal Forest Products

Forest products that are removed, cut, collected, processed and/or transported:

(a) without the requisite, authorization or permit; or

(b) with incomplete supporting documents;

(c) with genuine authorizations or permits and/or supporting documentation that have an expired validity, have
been cancelled or that contain forged entries; or

(d) with spurious (fake) authorizations, permits and/or supporting documents.

This offense is considered as malum prohibitum.

Any timber/forest product, as well as the machineries, equipment and tools illegally used in the area where the
timber or forest products are found, shall be confiscated in favor of the government.

Reward to informant shall be 20% of the proceeds of confiscated forest products

Mustang Lumber, Inc. v. CA

Lumber is a processed log or timber. The legislative intent is to include mere possession of lumber without
legal documents punishable under Section 68 of Revised Forestry Code.

A forest officer or employee may arrest without warrant any person who has committed, or is committing in his
presence any of the offense defined in the code.

If an officer arrests an alleged perpetrator without a warrant, and without violating any offense in the code in his
presence, the officer shall be investigated administratively.

Forest products and other items seized and confiscated upon authority of the DENR Secretary is lawfully taken
by virtue of legal process and is deemed to be in custodia legis therefore, beyond reach of replevin.

Unlawful occupation or destruction of forest lands and grazing lands punished under Section 69 of PD
705

The section penalizes any person who enters and occupies or possesses, or makes kaingin for his own private
use or for others any forest land without authority under a license agreement, lease, license or permit, or in any
manner destroys such forest land or part thereof, or causes any damage to the timber stand and other
products and forest growths found therein, or who assists, aids or abets any other person to do so, or sets a
fire, or negligently permits a fire to be set in any forest land

Section 70 of PD 705

The section penalizes any person, who shall, without authority under a lease or permit, graze or cause to graze
livestock in forest lands, grazing lands and alienable and disposable lands which have not as yet been
disposed of in accordance with the Public Land Act;

In case the offender is a corporation, partnership or association, the officers and directors thereof shall be
liable.

Section 71 of PD 705

The section penalizes any person who:

a. shall, without permit, occupy for any length of time any portion of the national parks system, or
b. shall, in any manner, cut, destroy, damage or remove timber or any species of vegetation or forest
cover and other natural resources found therein, or
c. shall mutilate, deface or destroy objects of natural beauty or of scenic value within areas in the national
parks system, or
 d. shall, without permit, hunt, capture or kill any kind of bird, fish or wild animal life within any area in the
national parks.

Distinction between Forest and Forest Land

A forest is a large track of land covered with a natural growth of trees and underbrush. On the other hand,
forest land is a classification of land under the Constitution that is part of public domain which is beyond the
commerce of man and may not be alienated or disposed. The former is a description of what the land appears,
and the latter is a legal classification for legal purposes. However, it must be stressed that legal nature or
status does not have to be descriptive of what the land actually looks like.

Therefore, a land may be urbanized, yet still classified as forest land.

What are the three (3) types of Forests?

1. Public Forest a mass of land of public domain which has not been a subject of the present system of
classification.
2. Permanent Forest/ Forest Reserves are lands of public domain that have been subject of the present
system of classification and determined to be needed for forest purposes
3. Forest Reservation are forest lands that have been reserved by the President of the Philippines for any
specific purpose.

Watershed, watershed reservation and critical watershed

Watershed is a land area drained by a stream or fixed body of water and its tributaries having a common
outlet for surface run-off.

Watershed Reservation is a forest land reservation established to protect or improve the conditions of the
water yield thereof or reduce sedimentation.

Critical Watershed is a drainage area of a river supporting existing and proposed hydro-electric power and
irrigation works needing immediate rehabilitation as it is being subjected to a fast denudation causing
accelerated erosion and destructive floods.