It was about to be cut down last summer by a public works contractor to widen lanes in M. Velez Street in Cebu City.
Instead, the old Narra, one of seven roadside trees across the west wing of the Provincial Capitol, could be a landmark as the tallest Narra growing by a roadside in the city.
The Narra, whose leafy branches provide a 40-foot-wide canopy as shade for motorists and pedestrians at the bend of a busy road, is also the national tree of the Philippines.
Cebu City Parks Administrator Arlie Gesta said he would revive a proposal to preserve the tree and place a marker to identify its unique features.
“The idea is to put up information describing the Narra as an indigenous tree species and the biggest one in the sidewalk or roadside recorded here. We will also put the scientific and common name,” he said in an interview.
He welcomed a suggestion of Cebu Daily News to put a signage there for public awareness and to deter further attempts to cut down the tree.
“That’s a good idea. I will bring it up to the commissioners,” Gesta told CDN, adding that the same proposal was made by the Parks and Playgrounds Commission in late 2012 before the roadwork in M. Velez Street started.
The Narra, which is 50 feet tall, narrowly escaped being hacked and uprooted in May.
The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) 7 called off removing the Narra and seven remaining trees of various types on M. Velez Street after adverse publicity over the destruction of an old Balete tree to clear the way for road widening.
The contractor J & J Construction, which has a July deadline, had cut off the branches and removed the trunk of the towering Balete without waiting for an earth-balling permit.
The tree was already a dry, four-foot stump when Cebu Daily News found it in a vacant lot at the South Road Properties, and featured the replanted remains on the May 20 front page.
The Balete tree was declared “dead” by a forester of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), who came to inspect it right after. The agency issued a cease-and-desist order against DPWH-7 stopping any further tree cutting on M. Velez Street.
ROAD DESIGN
“We don’t plan to transfer the remaining trees anymore. We will just incorporate them in the road design,” said Lito Catubig, chief of the construction division of the DPWH Cebu City District Office at the time.
He said that instead of removing them as obstructions, the remaining four Narra trees, two Mahogany trees and a Talisay tree would remain where they are.
Catubig mentioned a plan to install a concrete plant box around the tree after the contractor finishes demolishing nearby houses.
SAVED
Parks and Playgrounds Commission (PPC) executive director Dr. Librado Macaraya said what was saved was the “biggest” Narra tree he has seen by a roadside in Cebu City.
The DENR-7 confirmed this record based on the tree’s diameter of 153 centimeters.
Data is sketchy on the history of the tree. Its age can be determined by counting the rings exposed if its trunk is cut crosswise, an option they won’t pursue.
A larger Narra tree can be found in Plaza Independencia, a historic public park across Fort San Pedro. Larger specimens of Narra can be found in outlying towns.
The proposal to redesign the road around the Narra tree still has to be approved by Cebu City District Engineer Fernando Cruz.
Once he confirms this, Gesta said the playgrounds commission has to pass a resolution about setting up a signage.
OBSTRUCTION
The DPWH-7 has repeatedly complained of delays in road-widening work because of obstructions like utility poles, road-right-of-way acquisition issues and the presence of trees.
It came under fire in April, when about 80 fire trees planted by the Cebu city government were uprooted overnight by another DPWH-7 contractor on the S. Osmeña Road, which is being rehabilitated.
The agency was issued a cease-and-desist order by the DENR-7 which filed a criminal complaint against WT Construction for illegal destruction of trees.
In a press conference last Tuesday marking the 116th anniversary of DPWH, Regional Director Ador Canlas said the agency was trying to “strike a balance” and “minimize” removing trees.
“We’re doing our best to really maintain and not cut the trees, but sometimes there is really a need for it,” he said.
Work slowed down on the Naga-Carcar road widening in south Cebu, where several concrete sections can’t be completed because of trees in the middle of the lanes.
A bidding was conducted last week for the continuation of the project with a new design to incorporate trees where alignment is possible.
Canlas said they provided a lane outside the line of trees in some portions.
“They can either be used as a bike lane or a jogging lane,” he said.