In Cebu City, death of 228 earth-balled trees probed

Mayor Michael Rama of Cebu City | PHOTO: Official website of Cebu City

CEBU CITY, Cebu, Philippines — At least 228 trees that were earth-balled to give way to the Cebu Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project have died, prompting the city council to call for an investigation.

Mayor Michael Rama said those behind the death of the trees, mostly Indian and balete trees, along Osmeña Boulevard should be held accountable.

“Whoever was responsible for that, I wish they should face administrative charges,” he said.

The trees were removed from the center islands on Osmeña Boulevard in February this year as these were along the alignment of the BRT project, which is funded by the World Bank, the French Development Agency, and the Philippine government.

City councilors found out that the earth-balled trees died just after they were transferred to the Cebu City Quarantine Center at the North Reclamation Area.

The Cebu City Environment and Natural Resources Office, in a report, conducted three inspections of the trees on Aug. 10 and Dec. 1 in 2022, and on July 31, 2023.

The first and second inspections, based on the report, mentioned that the trees showed 70- and 50-percent survival rates, respectively. However, the last inspection showed that there were already no indicators that the trees were alive.

Councilor Joel Garganera, chair of the council’s committee on environment, said a cooperative, which he did not name, was hired to earth ball the trees.

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Ill-equipped

But Garganera said the contractor was apparently ill-equipped to handle the procedure which resulted in the trees’ death.

Earth balling is the process of transferring a tree from one location to another by excavating the soil and roots in a circular shape, leaving most of the root system undisturbed and intact.

According to Garganera, earth balling a tree requires special skills in downsizing, culturing, and ensuring it can absorb nutrients and water when replanted.

The Cebu City council, he said, has forwarded the resolution directing the Cebu City Legal Office to conduct the investigation and find out who is responsible for the death of the Indian and balete trees.

“The city legal [office] is also tasked to review the arrangement and coordination with the BRT management as to how the money downloaded to the city for tree propagation along the BRT route would be spent,” he added.

The city government required a P10,000 bond for each tree subjected to earth-balling. However, this had not been implemented and the P2.8-million bond had not been paid.