Trees and Mayors

On a quiet Saturday morning, I checked my phone and saw several missed calls from a friend. I started to worry about her and wondered what was wrong. When I read a text message from her, I would learn that the mayor in her town had ordered more trees near the municipal hall to be cut.

My friend had succeeded in getting a Temporary Environmental Protection Order (TEPO) from the court to prevent the mayor from cutting two old mahogany trees. The senior residents of the town had narrated that those trees had been there since they were children. The tree pathologist from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) had certified that the trees were healthy. The court sided with my friend and issued the TEPO. She did not anticipate that the mayor would train his sights on other trees. The trees that the mayor ordered cut were not covered by the TEPO. The reason he wanted the other trees to be cut was not clear. The trees were not causing anyone or anything any harm. There was also no infrastructure project that required that the area where they were growing be cleared of trees.

All I could tell my friend was to document the cutting and to gather facts to determine if a tree-cutting permit was issued or not. The legal remedies available would depend on whether or not such a permit was issued. I asked my friend if she was prepared to filed criminal and administrative cases against the persons involved. I also half-jokingly told her to run for mayor. Her town had been badly affected by flooding in the past. It could certainly use a mayor who understood the value of trees and the ecological services they provide.

I am certain that my friend’s experience is being replicated in towns and cities across the Philippines. With the popularity of environmental causes and the threat of disasters that not taking care of the environment can bring, every local government official or person who hopes to be elected as one in next year’s election would probably say that he or she loves Mother Earth and that environmental protection is part of his or her campaign platform. How they treat the environment in their territorial jurisdiction does not always jive with what they say. We can start with how they treat trees, for example.

A few months ago, I was appalled when century-old trees in Cebu City were indiscriminately cut after one fell on a jeepney and killed the driver. The proper thing to do would have been to consult tree experts from the DENR to evaluate the trees and to have the cutting done only if necessary. The city should have ensured that the cutting was done properly to make sure that molds did not grow on the tree wounds so that the trees would survive. The best thing to do, even now, would be to assign a person (or several persons) in charge of all the trees in Cebu City who will be responsible for the health and upkeep of the trees, including making sure that they do not hit anyone or anything with their falling branches or toppling trunks. It shouldn’t be such a difficult thing to do. It’s not as if Cebu City has a lot of trees along its streets.

With local elections less than a year away, I hope that all of us start paying more attention to what our elected officials and the persons who hope to replace them are saying and doing with regards the environment. Tree killers do not deserve to be elected to public office.

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