Hindi maaaring gamitin ang Revised Forestry Code of the Philippines para kasuhan ang isang taong nagdadala ng uling dahil hindi ito kabilang sa “forest products” na saklaw ng batas, ayon sa Supreme Court.
Ito ang naging batayan ng Korte sa pagbasura sa petition ng People of the Philippines at pagpapatibay sa dismissal ng kasong kriminal laban kay Rudy Villagen y Suelos.
Naaresto si Villagen noong Oktubre 8, 2020 sa Bongabong, Oriental Mindoro habang nagdadala ng 475 sako ng uling na nagkakahalaga ng ₱71,250. Kinasuhan siya dahil wala umanong kaukulang forestry permit.
Ayon sa Supreme Court, iba ang uling sa timber at lumber dahil dumaraan ang kahoy sa pyrolysis o carbonization na nagbabago sa pisikal at kemikal nitong katangian.
“Notably absent from the definition of ‘forest products’ is manufactured wood charcoal. Charcoal is not a naturally occurring forest product but a processed derivative,” ayon sa Supreme Court.
“Through the process of charring, wood undergoes substantial physical and chemical transformation, resulting in a product that is distinct in character, composition, and use from raw wood. Hence, by the time wood becomes charcoal, it is no longer ‘wood’ in its natural, ordinary, scientific, or commercial sense. It becomes an object that is distinct and separate from its raw or original form, with qualities and uses that are unique to it and which are not possessed by raw wood,” dagdag pa nito.
Binigyang-diin din ng Korte na hindi maaaring palawakin ng administrative regulations ang saklaw ng P.D. 705 at gawing krimen ang isang bagay na hindi malinaw na ipinagbabawal ng batas.
“Accordingly, while the Court is not unmindful of the environmental concerns underlying P.D. No. 705, as amended, such considerations cannot override the constitutional mandate that penal statutes be construed strictly in favor of the accused. Any expansion of criminal liability to include manufactured wood charcoal as a forest product must come from Congress, not from judicial interpretation,” desisyon ng Korte Suprema.
Sa huli, pinagtibay ng Supreme Court ang dismissal ng kaso laban kay Villagen.
