After Serging Osmeña Blvd. trees, Dakit tree cut down without a permit?

CEBU, Philippines - More than a month after the disappearance of over 70 trees from the site of road improvements along Serging Osmeña Boulevard in Cebu City, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources is set to look into the possible illegal removal of another tree.

This time it’s not just a years-old tree on a center island, it’s a huge tree that has sat at the side of the road for at least 30 years.

Despite having only a clearance to earth-ball the tree, the construction firm allegedly “illegally” uprooted the big old Balete (Dakit) tree near the M. Velez Bridge which was affected due to the road widening project along M. Velez Street.

DENR-7 information officer Eddie Llamedo said Regional Director Isabelo Montejo will send a team today to the area to conduct an investigation regarding the matter.

Llamedo said the clearance issued on April 2014 for the project is only for earth-balling and the not cutting of trees.

“Earth-balling is a process of removing a tree including some of its soil where roots are wrapped in a plastic while in transit and transfer it very carefully to an appropriate site for its continued growth,” he said.

However, he said the special tree-cutting permit was not issued by DENR because the Department of Public Works and Highways has not complied with the conditions such as the barangay endorsement emphasizing no objection to the cutting of trees and the public consultation.

“It means that the cutting of an old Dakit there is unauthorized and illegal,” he added.

Llamedo said the contractor of the project should not continue uprooting trees unless they have a special tree-cutting permit to be issued by the regional office.

“Further cutting of trees there should not be carried out,” he said, adding that there are still other trees in the area that might be affected by the widening project.

“Initial information on trees there indicates about five narra, two mahogany, one fire tree, and one Talisay,” he said.

He said narra trees are considered premium trees which mean these should never be cut down.

Further, he said the cutting of trees without a permit is a violation of Presidential Decree 953 Section 7 which is the “Requiring the Planting Of Trees In Certain Places and Penalizing Unauthorized Cutting, Destruction, Damaging And Injuring Of Certain Trees, Plants And Vegetation.

“Meaning, the offender may be fined an amount of P500 to P5,000 or an imprisonment of six months to two years or both at the discretion of the court,” he said.

He also said the tree that is missing now is not the same one that collapsed and damaged several houses last May 2012.  According to a report from BANAT, the sister publication of The FREEMAN, the missing tree was cut down last February.

A man who lives in the area said he was one of the men hired to helped cut down the old tree.

“Kami man ang nagputol atong kahoya,” he said, adding that he is no longer connected with the contractor today. He added the contractor hired outsiders to cut the tree since they believed it was enchanted.

In the case of the Serging Osmeña Boulevard trees, DENR has already filed a case against WT Construction over the disappearance of the trees along Serging Osmeña Boulevard in Cebu City.

“So far, wala pa man,” Llamedo said when asked regarding the progress of the case. — /BRP (FREEMAN)