Cut coco trees sans permit and be jailed

DAVAO CITY — Don’t cut coconut trees at whim.

City resident Rosalinda Lastima learned this lesson the hard way after the court sentenced her to one year in jail for felling four coconut trees without the necessary permit from the Philippine Coconut Authority four years ago.

Municipal Trial Court in Cities (MTCC) Branch 5 Judge Daydews Villamor found Lastima of Talomo district guilty of violating Republic Act 8948, or the Coconut Preservation Act of 1998.

Lastima’s neighbor Leonila Banaan testified against her, saying that she ordered her workers to cut the four trees in the morning of Feb. 5, 1998 although she was admonished against doing so.

Lastima had insisted that another neighbor, not her, was responsible for felling the trees. The court, however, dismissed her alibi. — Edith Regalado