Probe on tree-cutting spree pushed

By Dolly Yasa

 

BACOLOD City – Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Bacolod District Engineer Jaime Javellana said they suspended the cutting of trees along the old airport here after it stirred controversy on social media.

Javellana told Daily Guardian here Thursday that his office received a letter from Bacolod Representative Greg Gasataya and DPWH-6 asking them to stop the cutting of the trees as part of a sidewalk project.

Social media was abuzz with comments and reactions from netizens calling for a stop to the activity.

Javellana explained that the Department of Environment and Natural Resources gave them a permit to cut 35 trees in the area. They have cut down 26 and only 9 remain.

He pointed out that the DENR will not allow the cutting of the trees if they see there is no valid reason for it.

The trees are already old and not endangered species and are already hollow, he added.

Javellana said the sidewalk project in the area was supposed to start last year.

He said the roots have also damaged the sidewalk and the branches pose danger to pedestrians and vehicles because these are already old.

He recalled an incident where a tree branch fell on a parked vehicle at the vicinity of the old airport.

Javellana said they will also install lamp posts in the area.

Meanwhile Bacolod Councilor Wilson Gamboa is asking the city environment office through the Office of the Mayor to conduct a fact-finding inquiry into the cutting of trees by the DPWH.

Gamboa said Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP) based its action on passing a resolution “interposing no objection” based on the following:

1. The “endorsement” to cut trees near the old Bacolod Airport by the local environment Office (CENRO) which conducted the verification and inspection.
2. The SP Committee Chairman on Environment who conducted the public hearing/consultation involving all stakeholders and its “recommendation”

The resolution is purely ministerial on the part of the SP and was approved before the fact of the actual “cutting of the trees,” Gamboa said.

“However, the SP through its ‘oversight power’ may revoke or recall its resolution when there is a clear violation or non-compliance to pertinent requirements as provided by pertinent laws and orders such as the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Administrative Order No. 2018-16 which I raised during the discussion last April 7, 2021 Regular Session.”

DENR Administrative Order No. 2018-16 provides the requirements for the cutting of trees in public spaces:

I. Appropriate infrastructure plan with tree charting indicating the geo-tagged location and shall be vetted by the DPWH as basis of validation by the DENR during actual cutting operations.

1. Appropriate environmental clearance (CNC/ECC);
2. Endorsement of the local government units;
3. Waiver/Consent corresponding to appropriate infrastructure plan in case of tree cutting within private lands; and
4. Appropriate Land Tenure Instruments (LTI’s) for tree cutting within forest lands.

II. The design of ROAD PROJECTS should always consider the least number of trees to be affected and;

III. Per every application for the issuance of a permit, there should be an attached infrastructure plan and endorsement by the LGU equivalent and specific.

Mayor Evelio Leonardia said “It was a shocking surprise. I could not believe it the first time it was reported to me. That is why I immediately instructed BCPO director Col. Manuel Placido to stop it instantly. ”

“The trees were some of the treasures of Bacolod that people marvelled at, and we considered those trees as part and parcel of the city,” he added.