In House Resolution 2042, Reps. Rufus Rodriguez (2nd District, Cagayan de Oro City), Maximo Rodriguez (Partylist, ABANTE MINDANAO) and Vicente Belmonte Jr. (Lone District, Iligan City) also extended the appreciation of the people of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan City for President Aquino's move to create a task force that will look into the cause of the devastation brought about by typhoon Sendong in Northern Mindanao.
"We, the people of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan City lauded President Benigno Aquino for 
initiating the forming of a task force that will investigate the reasons behind the disaster and to determine whether a nationwide logging ban had been violated in light of the accounts of survivors saying that huge logs thundering down mountainsides crushed residents," Rodriguez said.
Heavy rains brought about by typhoon Sendong sent major rivers swiftly overflowing, causing deadly floods that killed over 1,200 people in the cities of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan alone and left more than a thousand others missing.
Rodriguez said officials responsible must be held accountable for the unabated illegal logging operations in Lanao del Sur, which aggravated the flooding and deaths brought by typhoon Sendong. 
"There is a need to investigate the local officials, local DENR officers, local Philippine National Police and the local Armed Forces of the Philippines in Lanao del Sur and determine why logging operations still continue despite a total logging ban," Rodriguez declared.
"We need to determine why the local officials are unaware of the logging operations in the area, or if they are aware, why they are turning a blind eye. We should also know if there are anomalies happening to the benefit of these loggers who violate the laws," Rodriguez said.
The resolution specifically directs the House Committee on Good Government to conduct an inquiry, in aid of legislation, on the staggering damage, including loss of lives and destruction of property caused by flooding brought by typhoon Sendong.
In pushing for the probe, Rodriguez cited the report of Task Force Sendong created by Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Gov. Mujiv Hataman that the logs that killed many people at the height of the December 17 flashfloods that swept through Iligan City may have come from the forestlands of Kapai and Tagoloan II towns in Lanao del Sur.
The report of the task force said the logs were from the stockpile of Vicmar Development Corp., a Makati-based logging and plywood company operating in Lanao del Sur since 1975.
Quoting the report, Rodriguez said Vicmar stockpiles timber in its log pond in Kapai-Bayug river junction and processes the wood at its sawmill in Barangay Hinaplanon in Iligan City, which lies on the bank of the Mandulog River. The logs in the log pond naturally drift away to Iligan City through the Mandulog River, the report said.
"Belmonte said the same report also cited the existence of "carabao logging" or small-scale logging in the two municipalities.
"Some of the logs could also be the result of the so-called carabao logging by small-scale loggers without any permit from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM)," Belmonte said.
Belmonte said the DENR officials in Lanao del Sur had claimed that they had not received information that Vicmar and other companies continued to cut trees after the ban issued by former ARMM Acting Governor Ansaruddin Adiong took effect.
Also, because Vicmar had stockpiled its logs near Iligan City, which is part of Lanao del Norte in Northern Mindanao region, the job of monitoring the company's activities fell on Lanao del Norte officials, Belmonte said quoting the report.
The report likewise identified Melvin Anggot as the Iligan City information officer who said that some people tried to bribe officials to get the logs that the floods had washed away.
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