Check of tree transfer site shows no tree cut, says mall

BAGUIO CITY—Shopping mall giant SM on Wednesday allowed protesting Baguio residents to inspect a section of Luneta Hill where it transplanted 41 trees from an expansion site of SM City Baguio.

The transfer of these trees is the subject of a civil case filed by the Cordillera Global Network (CGN), a group composed of residents, environmentalists, artists and students.

The relocation of 182 trees through earth balling had been frozen by a temporary environmental protection order (Tepo) issued last week by Baguio Regional Trial Court Judge Antonio Esteves.

Bien Mateo, the SM Supermalls vice president for operations, said the trees were properly handled under the supervision of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and experts from the University of the Philippines Los Baños.

No tree cut

No tree was found cut in the area as claimed earlier by protesters.

Michael Bengwayan, an environmentalist who launched the campaign to save the trees, and DENR Cordillera officials who joined the inspection, checked the stability of 40 alnus trees and a Benguet pine tree that were transferred before SM heeded the Tepo and stopped earth balling activities in the mall compound.

The group found at least five pine trees with its roots already encased in sacks and cloth and ready for transplanting. Mateo said the trees would have been relocated had the Tepo not been enforced.

“Immediately, we requested the court that it allow us to start caring for those trees [and that these need] to be transferred immediately [to ensure that they survive the trauma of relocation],” Mateo said.

The mall has set up lines of water hoses around the trees to sustain ground moisture.

But the inspection did not satisfy CGN.

Gloria Abaeo, the CGN president, said they have decided to back out of a dialogue brokered by Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo and would instead rely on the decision of the court.

Tepo extended

Mateo said the company sent its lawyers to Baguio to receive a copy of the Tepo and has been abiding by the directive.

Esteves extended the Tepo validity until the CGN petition to stop the expansion is resolved.

In a statement, SM said it also showed to the inspection team from the Department of Interior and Local Government, DENR, Baguio City Hall and forestry experts the soil erosion on the steeply sloping terrain at the back of the mall that prompted the redevelopment plan.

Mateo, who was present during the inspection, was quoted by the statement as saying that after the discovery of the erosion, the mall’s planning group sometime in 2010 suggested building structures to correct it, which had also affected some of the trees.

“We went further to plan a parking building to ease the traffic on Session Road, which would also result in lessening the air pollution in the area. To justify the building cost, we added some shopping spaces in the open air levels,” the statement quoted him as saying.

“As they were able to see, we have not cut any tree,” he said. Vincent Cabreza, Inquirer Northern Luzon