Cebu City Councilor Jerry Guardo
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Cebu City Councilor Jerry Guardo, chairman of the City Council’s committee on infrastructure, said that they had already inspected the 122 trees that would be cut or earth-balled along the N. Bacalso Avenue highway for the road-widening project.
The inspection was done after the Cebu City Council wanted the cutting of the trees to be checked first before they would approve the tree-cutting permit requested by the Department of Public Works and Highways in Central Visayas (DPWH-7).
Read more: Cebu City Council to intervene in DPWH request to cut 122 trees
Guardo and representatives of the Department of Engineering and Public Works (DEPW) conducted an ocular inspection in the area on November 13, 2019, to see for themselves the trees that would be removed to pave the way for the road-widening project.
He said the three trees that would be cut were huge and their roots could destroy the surrounding structures prompting the DPWH to cut them, while the 119 other trees would be transferred to the parks and open spaces in the city.
“There really is a need to transfer or to cut the trees because the DPWH’s road-widening project is long overdue. It took years to get the right of way and now trees are the only things on the way,” said Guardo in a press conference on Thursday, November 14, 2019.
Guardo said the transfer and cutting of the trees was still subject to the approval of the Council since the council members would want the DPWH to give them a copy of the reports including the assessment on the trees.
The councilor said the residents in the area were not opposing the cutting of the trees because they said that the trees made the sidewalks smaller.
However, at least four households and establishments complained about the road-widening because their structures would be heavily affected.
Some even went beyond the 3-meter easement of the current sidewalk.
“We expected them to complain because their structures were encroaching the property, but the DPWH already got their right of way,” said Guardo.
Guardo said that once the DPWH gets the council’s approval, the trees would have to go.
He encouraged the public to understand the move of the government since the road-widening would help solve the city’s traffic woes.
“We have to balance the odds when it comes to progress. The trees will be placed in better areas,” said Guardo. /dbs