Rama orders inventory of trees

CEBU, Philippines - Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama wants an inventory of all old trees existing in Cebu City to determine which needs to be cut to prevent accidents such as what happened to a PUJ driver last Wednesday.

“I want the inventory aron malingkuran ta na. We will coordinate with the DENR (Department of Environment and Natural Resources) on this,” Rama said.

Rama said that he will task the Local Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (LDRRMC) and City Agriculture Office to identify all old trees and make recommendations on which are in danger of being uprooted, thus, need cutting.

City Agriculturist Joelito Baclayon said there are about 50 acacia trees, some are century-old trees, still standing within the city.

Some of the really huge ones are located in the University of the Philippines Lahug Campus and in barangay Mabolo.

Over two years ago, two acacia trees in the Plaza Sugbo in city hall also toppled, fortunately harming no one.

After the incident, they conducted an inventory of all huge and old trees such as acacia and palm trees, among others.

Last year, the City Government spent almost two million for cutting several palm trees that were in danger of falling. The city prioritized palm trees that were near houses. The City Hall is still flooded with requests for assistance in cutting palm trees but the City has a long backlog due to lack of funds.

Alvin Santillana, Executive Director of the LDRRMC said the cutting costs about P20,000 to P30,000 depending on the height and weight of the tree.

Many requests have not been acted upon because of the bureaucracy in securing the budget.

Baclayon said that because the mayor issued an order, they will conduct another inventory and will prepare a letter asking permission from the DENR to prune the acacia trees.

Baclayon said they cannot cut acacia trees but they can be trimmed where big branches will have to be cut to lessen the weight that an acacia tree has to carry.

Acacia trees are normally strong and resistant. But developments such as road constructions usually destroy their lateral roots which supposedly anchor the plant in the soil. Lateral roots are the large roots that surface on the ground and, Baclayon said, they take years to be replaced. (FREEMAN)