An old balete tree was cut down in March in this portion encircled on M. Velez street in barangay Capitol Site now covered by concrete. Seven other trees nearby may also be removed for the road-widening project. (CDN PHOTO)
Adry stump about five feet high is all that’s left of a towering old “balete” tree that was cut down without a permit and replanted in reclaimed land in Cebu City.
For this illegal removal, a second stop order against cutting trees was issued yesterday against the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) in Region 7 and a private contractor.
The “balete” or ficus, the oldest and biggest of eight trees of various species near the bridge on M. Velez Street, where road widening is underway, was found transferred to a vacant field behind the Pedro Calungsod templete in the South Road Properties.
“It could die soon as there have been no adequate interventions or measures to keep it alive,” said Isabelo Montejo, regional executive director of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in his letter to DPWH, after foresters inspected the site yesterday.
Montejo issued the stoppage order against DPWH Regional Director Ador Canlas, the second time he did so since April after a similar case where 80 fire trees planted by the Cebu city government on the center island of S. Osmeña Road were uprooted and disappeared.
Like the removal of the “balete”, the fire trees were the subject of a pending DPWH application for a DENR permit to earth-ball or to transfer them alive to a government site where they can be carefully replanted under specific conditions.
In both cases, the national roads were being widened or rehabilitated by the DPWH. The trees were suddenly removed without notice, consent of the owners or local government, or presence of DENR representatives.
The “balete”, which once stood 4 meters high or over 12 feet, was already a huge, full grown tree in the 1940s.
The spot where it stood is now covered in concrete as part of the paved road.
Based on an Oct. 18, 2013 inventory by the DENR, eight trees are affected by the ongoing road widening of M. Velez Street.
There are four Narra, one Talisay, two Mahogany aside from the one one ficus species (balete) tree, that was already taken down.
The balete was cut down sometime in March. It had a diameter of 130 centimeters and was four feet tall.
The contractor JJ and J Construction and General Merchandise, represented by site engineer Alfred Tio, told DENR foresters that they were instructed by Reynaldo Padillo of DPWH 7 to cut the tree during the second week of April, and that it was “earth-balled” and transferred to the back of the Calungsod Templete.
When Cebu Daily News visited the site yesterday, the tree was just a dried up stump less than the height of a grown man.
The security guard in the area, a city-government owned property, said he didn’t know who put it there or who was taking care of it.
“We have not issued the appropriate permit for the trees to be affected as there are some conditions or requirements which have not been complied with by DPWH 7, said Montejo of the DENR in a press statement.
A March 26 clearance was given earlier by DENR Undersecretary Demetrio Ignacio for earth-balling but “a clearance is different from a permit and it does not give the contractor approval to proceed with the cutting without the explicit possession of a permit,” said Montejo.
Barangay Clearance
Capitol Site barangay captain Manuel Guanzon signed a certificate dated May 7, 2014 stating that “I have consulted my respective constituents and that they interpose no objections whatsover for the (road-wdening) project” and that he “read” and “understood” the impolications of the road project “to undergo ball out of the eight affected trees in the surrounding areas.”
DENR’s chief said the certification “is only for earth-balling and not cutting”, and the document was only submitted last May 16 after the “balete” tree was already removed.
In the clearance issued by DENR Undersecretary Ignacio, 11 conditions were stated.
One of them stated that “to the extent possible” trees to be affected by the project “should be incorporated in the design of the road to be constructed in order to minimize the loss of the trees.”
DPWH Regional Director Canlas was asked to explain in writing why the cutting or earth-balling of the balete tree was carried out without DENR 7’s supervision and without the issuance of a permit.
He was also asked to submit a plan on what measures would be taken for the transplanted tree and to submit “proof of genuine conduct of consultation with concerned stakeholders in the area”.
DENR foresters Raul Pasoc and Felimon Embalzador Jr. were tasked to investigate and look in into the liability of the contractor for the cutting of the balte tree.
Site engineer Tio said the tree was removed last March as they continue with the widening project./With Correspondents Victor Anthony Silva
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