Mustang Lumber, Inc. v.

Court of Appeals
G.R. No. 104988, June 18, 1996, 257 SCRA 430

Syllabus:

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:

(aa) 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,
wallbond, blockboard, 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 processed log or timber.

Facts:

The present suit is a consolidation of three cases, the first case being the one pertinent to environmental
law. An organized team of foresters and policemen apprehended the truck belonging to Mustang Lumber,
Inc. which contained lauan and almaciga lumber of assorted sizes and dimensions. The driver was unable
to produce the necessary legal documents, thus, the team seized the truck. Afterwards, the team obtained
a search warrant to inspect the premises of Mustang Lumber. During the search, the team found more
lumber in the lumberyard without the necessary papers. Thus, the lumbers were confiscated. Secretary
Factoran ordered the disposal of the confiscated lumber. A complaint against Mustang Lumber’s president
and general manager was filed in court. Mustang Lumber filed a motion to quash on the ground that “the
information does not charge an offense. According to Mustang Lumber, the possession of lumber as
opposed to timber is not penalized under Section 68 of PD No. 705.

Issue:

Whether possession of lumber, as opposed to timber, is penalized in Section 68 of PD No. 705.

Ruling:

Yes. The possession of lumber is covered by Section 68 of PD No. 705. While the Revised Forestry Code
does not contain any definition of timber or lumber, it does define forest products. The definition of
Processing Plant includes lumber, to wit: “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, wallbond, blockboard (sic), 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.”