Naga Mayor Val Chiong (left) and Fr. Robert Reyes in an animated exchange at City Hall over the cutting of trees for the city’s track oval project. (CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA)
Tree-loving priest Fr. Robert Reyes and City of Naga Mayor Valdemar Chiong yesterday shook hands and discussed the fate of 58 trees cut down for a track oval project.
“There must be a perfect balance of plans for the city and the trees,” the priest reminded the mayor in his office.
“You don’t need to sacrifice the trees for the project.”
But Mayor Chiong, who was calm throughout the 15-minute conversation, would not budge.
“With all due respect for your stand, father, kahit saan ka pa maghapanap sa Naga, there’s no other place to put up that oval. I can say that in front of all these people,” said the mayor in the presence of 28 barangay captains who support the sports project, that is the subject of a petition for a writ of kalikasan filed by some residents before theCourt of Appeals.
The Franciscan priest offered prayers and lighted 58 candles for each tree cut down outside the oval of Naga City Central School, then went straight to meet the mayor with convenors from the Movement for a Livable Cebu (MLC), Naga City Central School Parent Teachers’ Association Winley dela Fuente and Councilor Venci Del Mar.
At one point, both men discussed the matter of “sins”.
Fr. Reyes reiterated his stand that trees are irreplaceable, and told the official:” Siguro, mayor, you need to pay for your sins.”
To which the mayor calmly replied, “ Ikaw lang may sabi na may sala ako. Hindi ako nagkasala.” (You are the one who says I have sinned. I have not committed a sin.)
The Franciscan priest, who is based in Luzon and belongs to the National Coalition to Save the Trees, was bringing a poster that said “Thou Shall Not Kill”, which he said applies to trees, as well as people.
When Mayor Chiong challenged him by asking “Who will judge us, father? Di ba, wala naman?”, his supporters were taken aback by the priest’s direct answer.
“No, no I can judge. I believe. Obvious ba na may puno na pinutol? Hindi judge yan, but I am stating a fact here. Sombebody cut those trees.”
Outside were supporters of Mayor Chiong.
Earlier the two engaged in a tit-for-tat over radio dyAB hosted by Leo Lastimosa.
Reyes also lambasted Regional Executive Director Isabelo Montejo of the Dept. of Environment and Natural Resources – 7 (DENR-7) for allowing the cutting of trees over.
He asked Montejo to resign for failing to to fulfill the mandate of his office which is to protect the environment.
At the weekly 888 News Forum at the Marco Polo Plazal, DENR 7 spokesman Eddie Llamedo said the call for Montejo’s resignation was “inappropriate and misplaced.”
He said Montejo was only executing the issuance of the Special Tree Cutting Permit (STCP) for the City of Naga after it was approved by Undersecretary for field operations Demetrio Ignacio Jr.
“It was not his (Montejo’s) own decision. The STCP issued in October 23 was based on the clearance issued by the central office. It followed processes. The DENR 7 can’t deny the application since the required endorsements and the conditions were complied,” Llamedo said.
He explained that the application for cutting the original 79 trees had favorable endorsements from the school, Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) and the local government. He added that during the first day of the cutting, it was agreed that 21 of the trees don’t need to be cut.
Since the cutting was just a component of Naga City Government’s project to construct an oval, Llamedo said they didn’t need a public consultation since the land is owned by the city government. Consultation, he said, are only required in the issuance of Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECCs) which the city still need to apply for he oval construction.
Llamedo said ECCs are needed for government projects and not for the tree cutting. The Naga City Government started applying for the STCP in April this year but they haven’t applied for an ECC for the oval project.
The DENR 7 recommended the the city government to submit their application for an ECC for the project within this week. Llamedo said the city government’s 2.8-hectare oval project is beyond the one-hectare threshold of the DENR, which means an ECC is needed for the project.
The City of Naga is building an international standard athletic field, with eight-400-meter lane oval in 3.2 lot it owns near the Naga Central School.
The DENR had initially given them a permit to cut 79 trees.City Hall started cutting last Nov. 3, but stopped on Nov. 5, to have the cutting permit amended and after cutting 34 trees.
Thinking they can still save the 24 of the 58 trees City Hall plans to cut, Dela Fuente and the MLC filed a Writ of Kalikasan before the Court of Appeals last Friday. But before the court could act on their petition, City Hall resumed cutting the remaining trees on Friday evening and finished last Saturday evening. The resumption according to Mayor Chiong was based on the amended cutting permit they secured from the DENR late Friday afternoon.
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