DENR slams cutting of trees in Intramuros

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) criticized the cutting of trees in front of the Manila Cathedral in Intramuros, Manila.

“We condemn the mindless and arrogant action of the contractor and workers of a construction company who were engaged by the officials of the Intramuros Administration for the redevelopment of the area,” DENR National Capital Region director Corazon Davis said in a statement.

She said the contractor, construction firm, and Intramuros Administration officials may be charged with violating Presidential Decree 903, which imposes penalties and prescribes imprisonment for damaging or cutting trees.

Davis said officials of the Intramuros Administration earlier sought DENR’s permission to cut 27 trees in front of the Manila Cathedral for landscaping and development.

She said the DENR acceded to the request and issued a “tree cutting and balling permit” to Intramuros Administration chief Marie Ana Harper.

Davis alleged that several conditions prescribed in the permit “were simply ignored.” She said the Intramuros Administration failed to observe an explicit prohibition on the cutting of narra trees, which must be balled and transferred to any appropriate site in Intramuros; issue public notice and notify the area’s barangay council about the tree-cutting; and inform the DENR when the cutting will be undertaken so that experts from the department can provide technical advice on the balling of the narra trees.

 “Those trees were certainly part of our heritage,” Davis said. “They were mute witnesses to momentous events that transpired in the Walled City and deserve the same care… accorded to structures and artifacts in the Intramuros area.”     – Perseus Echeminada