School head gets flak for cutting 69 neem trees

GENERAL SANTOS CITY—For cutting down 69 fully grown neem trees (Azadirachta indica) without a permit from concerned government agencies, the principal of a public elementary school in General Santos City found himself the subject of a complaint from a barangay (village) official.

Genaro Ruales, the principal of Bescayda Elementary School in Barangay Olympog, is facing a complaint for violation of Presidential Decree No. 953 at the City Prosecutor’s Office. The offense is punishable by imprisonment for six months to two years and a fine ranging from P500 to P5,000.

The complaint was filed by Abito Gulle, Olympog chairman, on March 1, who said that the neem trees were made into charcoal and sold in the market. “I have witnesses who revealed that the principal got a 30-percent share of the proceeds from selling the charcoal,” Gulle claimed.

Ruales said he had asked the City Environment and Natural Resources Office in a letter for permission to cut down the trees inside the campus. He said pupils might figure in accidents for climbing the trees and that the trees could be breeding sites for mosquitoes carrying the dengue virus.

Moreover, he said, the area was cleared for use as a vegetable garden.

Gulle said the reasons were nonsense. “Schoolchildren are fond of climbing fruit trees but not the neem trees,” he said. “Neem trees are medicinal and are known insect repellents,” he said.

Galle said the principal actually planted fruit trees, not vegetables, in the area.—Aquiles Z. Zonio