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Pursuant to PCA Board Resolution No. 002-2008, all issuances of Permits to Cut Coconut Trees (PCCTs) and the corresponding Transport-Transhipment Clearances (TTCs) are suspended nationwide except on a limited exception and on the following circumstances only:

a) For typhoon damaged coconut trees in declared typhoon calamity areas;
b) For trees which pose threat and danger to life, limb or property;
c) For trees in areas covered by land use conversion or crop conversion orders duly issued by the Department of Agrarian Reform or Department of Agriculture, respectively; and,
d) Trees needed for personal use of the farmer for family housing or animal shed, not exceeding five trees.

Under R.A. No. 8048, the policy of the law is towards general prohibition on cutting of coconut trees. The same law, however, allows several exceptions which are subject to the verification and confirmation of PCA. Since the actual occurrence of the exceptions rests on the final determination of PCA, the Authority has inherent power and prerogative to withhold such determination to attain the essential objective of the law to conserve productive coconut trees.

Thus, in all circumstances other than the foregoing limited exceptions, no permit to cut shall be issued. In any event that a permit to cut is issued under this policy, the accompanying TTC shall also be issued by PCA and only for such volume allowed by the capacity of a four-wheeler vehicle such as a jeep/jeepney, pickup or flatbed "elf" type vehicle and the likes, with maximum load capacity of three (3) metric tons or 2,000 board feet of coco lumber. The TTC shall also be issued by PCA for transport within the province only and only for such volume.

The determination of the limited exceptions which shall be the basis for the issuance of the permits shall be made jointly by the Provincial Coconut Development Manager (PCDM)of the PCA Provincial Office and the Barangay Chairman of the place where the trees to be cut are located and the head of the Disaster Coordinating Council in the Province in case of typhoon damaged trees.

All pending applications for Permit to Cut Coconut Trees (PCCTs) which do not conform to the aforementioned exceptions upon effectivity of this Order shall no longer be processed and the application fees paid therefore shall be refunded to the applicant upon submission of the original copy of the Official Receipt (OR) evidencing such payment. All PCDMs are hereby required to prepare a report of all pending applications (upon effectivity of this Order) within their provinces and submit the same to the Office of the Administrator not later than five (5) days from receipt of this Order. This report shall contain the following information;

1. application number
2. name of applicant
3. date of application
4. official receipt number and amount paid for application fees
5. location of coconut trees applied for cutting
6 number of trees applied for cutting
7 reason for cutting

All PCDMs are further required to prepare separate reports of all PCCTs and TTCs issued within fifteen (15) days prior to effectivity of this Order, with the same aforementioned information, and submit these reports to the Office of the Administrator not later than five /5) days from their receipt of this Order. In the case of the report on TTCs, same must indicate the number of the PCCT corresponding to each TTC issued.

This Order is promulgated to arrest the ever increasing and unabated incidence of illegal cutting and shall remain in force until otherwise revoked by the undersigned.

All orders and issuances inconsistent herewith are hereby deemed modified or suspended during the effectivity of this Order.

This Order shall take effect immediately after publication in three (3) newspapers of general circulation.

For strict compliance.

Adopted; 12 Feb. 2008

(SGD.) OSCAR G. GARIN
Administrator