Tree expert’s verdict: ‘No need to cut Naga trees’

STILL ALIVE. Dr. Ernesto Militant, retired University of the Philippines-Los Banos tree pathologist, (left) pauses in his inspection of an Acacia tree in Naga City to check notes with DENR forest management specialists led by Leo Remitar. (CDN PHOTO/TONEE DESPOJO)

A third tree expert who was invited to check on the health of trees along the south Cebu highway said there was no need to cut down three remaining century-old Acacia trees in Naga City.

Pruning them is enough to ensure the safety of people who pass by the area, said Dr. Ernesto Militante, a forest pathologist and retired professor at the University of the Philippines-Los Banos.

Militante is scheduled to give his assessment of over 70 trees lining the highway from Naga to San Fernando in a briefing at 11 a.m. today at the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

He arrived yesterday morning and was brought to barangay Inoburan in Naga City by representatives of the Movement for a Livable Cebu (MLC) and two DENR 7 representatives.

Militante was the mutual choice of the MLC and DENR 7 who were looking for a tree pathologist to break a stalemate arising from varying views of the potential risk posed by roadside trees obstructing road widening work by the Dept. of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

Last August, government workers used chainsaws to take down four of seven aged trees in Naga City which DENR 7 foresters said were among more than 80 in sought south Cebu identified as “diseased or defective”, and posing immediate danger to people passing under them or living nearby.

“Wala akong nakitang rason para ipaputol ang puno kasi yung ugat niya bagama’t may embankment, nakapunta na talaga doon sa ilalim,” Militante told reporters , referring to three trees in Naga.

(I don’t see any reason to have the trees cut because while some of the roots are already in the embankment, they remain deeply anchored underground.)

Militante said the trees were not in danger of toppling except if they get uprooted during a powerful storm.

Militante was the third tree expert called in after an assessment made by DENR-7 foresters and Dr. Roger Guzman, a silviculturist from a non-government organization working on World Bank-funded projects.

DENR-7 foresters insisted that over 80 trees in Naga, Carcar and San Fernando be cut down, while Guzman said the trees could still be saved by proper pruning or tree surgery.

After the DENR-7 questioned Guzman’s rapid appraisal made in August, the parties agreed to look for another expert opinion, this time a tree pathologist.

Leo Remitar, forest management specialist of DENR-7, said they have to review Dr. Militante’s findings.

“We in the DENR-7 have to study Dr. Militante’s findings. With regard to pruning these trees, we will coordinate with the concerned local government units, and the Department of Public Works and Highways,” Remitar told reporters.

MLC’s Louella Alix said the expert opinion of the pathologist should settle the issue.

“I believe, this time around, the DENR should abide by Dr. Militante’s findings. His words should be the last. We should put an end to this,” she said.

The MLC with members of a mountaineer group raised funds to fly in Militante and arrange his hotel stay. Cebu provincial government officials who earlier assured they would take care of the cost said the expenses would be reimbursed.

Told of Militante’s initial assessment, Gov. Hilario Davide III said his priority is public safety.

“My position remains. If it is diseased and dying and if it poses danger to public safety, the tree should be cut down,” he said.

“We really cannot say (when it will fall down), there are even people who are healthy but get a heart attack the following day. We can never tell.”/with Reporter Peter L. Romanillos

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