The century old trees in Carcar City is threatened by a road widening from Naga City to Carcar CIty.(CDN PHOTO/TONEE DESPOJO)
It really was his handwriting.
Regional public works chief Ador Canlas yesterday confirmed that the marginal notes on a newspaper clipping directing him to spare the trees on the roadside of the national highway in Carcar City belonged to Public Works Secretary Rogelio Singson.
He said he received a copy of Singson’s note via electronic mail at 9 p.m. Wednesday.
Canlas who told CDN he was in Negros Oriental for a meeting on Wednesday would not make a comment on the note that was circulated by environmental activists.
A copy of the note was obtained by CDN.
“There will be no more cutting in Carcar City unless otherwise instructed,” he said.
“DPWH won’t apply for a permit in Carcar City but the cutting in Naga City shall push through.”
Canlas said Singson’s order supersedes the agreement between the DPWH, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), the province and the cities of Carcar and Naga and San Fernando town.
The agreement calls for the DPWH and the province to cut the trees that were declared at risk of collapse.
“The secretary’s instructions are clear and his instructions will prevail over any previous agreement that we had,” Canlas said.
He said there’s no need for a formal written instruction since the marginal note is already considered an official order from the secretary.
Canlas said he has yet to receive instructions on what to do with the the trees in San Fernando town, but he believes that a similar order may follow soon.
The DPWH’s involvement ends after the tree operations in Naga City, he said.
Based on an initial assessment, there are four trees in Carcar City and 41 in San Fernando that need to be cut as it poses danger to public safety. The trees were identified as “diseased.”
DENR-7 spokesman Eddie Llamedo said based on the agreement, the permit and clearance to cut trees in Carcar and San Fernando will directly be issued to the local government units, not to DPWH.
With DPWH’s exit, Llamedo said Carcar City and San Fernando town will have to cut the trees on their own.
Victory
Llamedo said four roadside trees falling in the past year should be a wake up call to everyone.
“Although we want to preserve these trees, we also value life and public safety.
We want to the public to feel the security when they travel the road to the south,¨ he said.
Environment conservation groups were happy with the DPWH decision.
¨I am very happy. This is a victory for us and the environment,¨ said Rose Liza Osorio, Philippine Earth Justice Center (PEJC) managing trustee.
Osorio said PEJC asked Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III to ask Canlas to put the cutting of hazardous trees in Naga on hold until an independent party from Manila assesses the condition of the trees there.
The same group that conducted a survey of 700 Pangasinan trees will be flying in next week.
Inventory
Canlas said he has yet to receive word from the governor since yesterday afternoon.
Llamedo said Regional DENR Executive Director Isabelo Montejo ordered a team of experts to continue their inventory and assessment of trees along the highway in southern Cebu.
Llamedo said this is the same team which evaluated over 300 trees along the highway from Naga City to Carcar City, where they found 88 trees that needed to be cut down due to its advanced stage of decay.
Llamedo said this team is composed of foresters trained in the University of the Philippines Los Baños.
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