Case against contractor for 79 missing trees dropped

The treeless Osmena road. (CDN FILE PHOTO/ TONEE DESPOJO)

The Cebu City Prosecutor’s Office has dismissed the criminal case filed by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) 7 against a contractor accused of uprooting 79 trees in the center island of S. Osmeña Road in Cebu City.

Dismayed by the decision, Cebu City Councilor Nida Cabrera asked who else could be held responsible, if not the contractor conducting road “improvements” there.

“They are the ones on the site. No one else was there. They should be responsible for the area,” Cabrera said.

Cabrera was the one who first expressed outrage over the disappearance of the trees in a privilege speech in the City Council after the trees vanished overnight over a weekend  in April last year  during the celebration  of World  Environment Day.

“I don’t know if they conducted a thorough investigation but based on our initial discussion with WT Construction, they agreed to take responsibility,” said Cabrera who heads the City Council committee on environment.

She said she will meet with DENR-7 officials to discuss the next course of action.

Prosecutor Rogelio del Prado Jr. said the  DENR failed to present any  evidence against the six officers of WT Construction Inc. and its engineer in charge who were earlier accused of “illegal destruction” of trees.

He said video footage of a closed-circuit television (CCTV) installed along the road which he viewed several times was not  enough basis to blame  the respondents.

“The footage would not show at any time with clear certainty that it was the personnel or employees of the respondents who destroyed the trees. No machinery was seen in the video destroying the trees,” he said in a decision reached in October last year.

A copy of the ruling was  recently secured by Cebu Daily News after Acting Cebu City Prosecutor Maria Luisa Ratilla approved it.

The prosecutors said the case was dismissed  “for absence of actual proof.”

DENR-7 spokesman Eddie Llamedo said they have yet to receive an official copy of the resolution but assured the agency will  contest the ruling and file a  motion for reconsideration.

“We will consult our legal division. We will exhaust whatever means necessary,” he  said.

Llamedo said the DENR’s cease and desist order stopping  the earth-balling of  remaining trees at the center of S. Osmeña Road in Cebu City remains.

Safety risks

The DENR promised to  lift the order once DPWH plants 7,900 mangroves at the Balili beach property in the City of Naga, as a replacement for the 79 missing trees and maintain them for three years to ensure  a 90 percent survival rate.

“DPWH has yet to comply with this requirement,” Llamedo said.

Leaves and branches of some of the remaining trees in the middle of S. Osmeña Road have withered.

Last April,  DENR-7 filed the case against WTCI president Irene Te, WTCI vice president Willy Te, corporate secretary Julie Te, treasurer Juanita Te, Mary Grace Te, Mary Joy Te and project-in-charge Engr. Adolfo Quiroga for violating Section 3 of Presidential Decree 953.

Inventory
The decree penalizes anyone caught cutting, destroying or damaging planted trees along public roads with imprisonment of at least six months but not more than two years, and a fine of P500 to P5,000.

Based on the inventory by DENR-7, 145 trees were affected by the rehabilitation of S. Osmeña Road. The project started in March last year.

The DENR-7’s Community Environment and Natural Resources Office (Cenro)  issued a permit to remove at least 145 trees of different species by “earth-balling” and to relocate them to another site. However, the terms were not followed.
In their counter-affidavit, respondents said the allegations were “sweeping and groundless.”

Responsibility
Cebu City Councilor Dave Tumulak, who heads the City Hall Command and Control Center said  he turned over all relevant  footage  to the prosecutor’s office as requested.

“We should respect the decision,” he said.

Tumulak said he will leave it up to the DENR-7 to  decide what legal actions to take after the ruling./With Reporter Jose Santino S. Bunachita

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