Decision 13 G.R. No. 224469 1. ls the dita tree cut and collected by petitioners a specie of timber? There is .uo· issue that petitioners did cut and collect a dita tree. As a rule, we are bound by the factual findings of the trial court and the Court of Appeals. Petitioners themselves have not seriously challenged this factual finding. In fact, their sole witness confirmed that they had cut and collected the dita tree. As for the nature of the dita tree, we rule that it constitutes timber. Merida v. People50 has explained that timber in PD 705 refers to: ... "w~>0d used for or suitable for building or for carpentry or joinery." Indeed, tree saplings or tiny tree stems that are too small for use as posts, panelling, beams, tables, or chairs cannot be considered timber .... Undoubtedly, the narra tree petitioner felled and converted to lumber was "timber" fit "for building or for carpentry or joinery" and thus falls under the ambit of Section 68 of PD 705, as amended. Here, the dita tree was intended for constructing a communal toilet. It therefore qualifies beyond reasonable doubt as timber pursuant to Section 77. 2. Was the dita tree a specie of timber cut and collected from a forest land, an alienable qr disposable public land, or a private land, as contemplated in Section 77 of PD 705, as amended? Section 3(d) of PD 705, as amended defines forest lands as including the public forest, 51 the permanent fore st or forest reserves, 52 and forest reservations. 53 Section 3(c) defines alienable and disposable lands as "those lands of the public domain which have been the subject of the present system of classification and declared as not needed for forest purposes." Section 3 (µIm) defines private lands indirectly as those lands with titled rights of ownership under existing laws, and in the case of national minority, lands s~bject to rights of possession existing at the time a license is granted under PD 705, which possession may include places of abode and worship, burial grounds, and old clearings:, but exclude productive 50 5'77 Phil. 243, 256-257 (2008): PD 705 as amended, Section 3 (a): Public forest is the mass of lands of the public domain which has not been the subject of the present system of cla,;sification for the determination of which lands are needed for forest purposes and which are not. 52 PD 705 as amended, Section 3 (b ): Permanent forest or forest reserves refers to those lands of the public domain which have be~n the subject of the present system of classification and declared as not needed for forest purposes. 53 PD 705 as amended, Section 3 (g): Forest reservations refer to forest lands which have been reserved by the President of the Philippines for any specific purpose or purposes. 51