Nineteen trees at the University of the Philippines-Cebu (UP Cebu) campus will be cut down this year to make way for additional school buildings in its 12.8-hectare property.
“Understandably, these trees are important. But the school has been planning these additional buildings for over five years now, and our students need their facilities,” UP Cebu Dean Liza Corro said.
Corro said they lack classrooms and laboratory facilities for the school’s more than 2,000 students.
UP Cebu is still finalizing its application for tree-cutting permits with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
UP Cebu campus architect Dioscoro “Cocoy” Alesna said the proposed additional facilities include the P4.8 million multi-story UP High School Building, the Arts and Sciences Expansion Building, the two-story Business Management Cluster Building, and the Undergraduate Expansion Building for the Mass Communication Program.
All buildings and facilities will be built in the administration side of the university.
Alesna said the school will also build a new Biology and Environmental Science Building and expand the dormitory building with three more phases next year.
Alesna said these trees are too big to be earth-balled and they may not survive the process.
“It should be noted however that we will not know the actual number of trees that will really have to be cut until the building is actually laid out,” Alesna said.
Alesna said they tried to work around the trees in theory, but it was hard because there are classroom standards required by the government.
If they work around the trees, Alesna said they may end up compromising the structure of the buildings or violate the standards required.
As the university is state-run, a public hearing regarding the state of the trees will be held with constituents this October 14, Wednesday, in the school’s Union Building.
The notice was posted on the gate of the Arts & Sciences (A.S.) lot across the main campus.
A photo of the notice was posted in the school’s anonymous information board, Speak UP Iskolar, which gained the ire of students of the university.
Students then began the #SaveUPCebuTrees campaign on Facebook, supported by Youth for a Livable Cebu convenor, Eric Smith, who was disseminating the information on various online groups.