Townsfolk strive to save Sorsogon’s ‘tree tunnel’

RESIDENTS of Sitio Pawa, Barangay Lahong, Bulan, Sorsogon, signed a protest against the cutting of trees to give way to a road-widening project. SHIENA M. BARRAMEDA/INQUIRER SOUTHERN LUZON

BULAN, Sorsogon—The townsfolk of Bulan, particularly those living in the villages of  Fabrica and Lahong, are rallying various sectors of Sorsogon to save the remaining trees forming Sorsogon’s famous “tunnel trees,” a natural wonder of huge hardwood trees hugging the road shoulders in Bulan to form a three-kilometer tunnel of foliage with their canopy.

‘Branches only’

The “tunnel trees,” the primary landmark of Bulan, are now in danger of being wiped out due to a road-widening project of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), that started sometime middle of May, ostensibly to ease traffic in Sorsogon.

DPWH particularly referred to the road project as the Gate-Bulan Highway.

Nelia Gueta, 68, who lives along the highway in Lahong and operates a sari-sari store in Bulan with her husband Salvador, said during the meeting with DPWH, she was told that they would be given just compensation for the properties they would lose because of the road project but they were not told they would also lose the trees around them.

“We were told that only the  branches will be cut,” she said.

Lahong village head Wilson Gime said the trees serve as a landmark that let travelers know that they are already in Bulan.

“Those trees have been there for almost a hundred years, they’re older than me,” he said.

Gime said DPWH personnel had cut down over 100 of around 380 narra, acacia, mahogany and mango trees that tower over the highway traversing Fabrica and Lahong.

He said during successive meetings with local officials in Bulan last year DPWH “did not make clear” that the trees would be affected by the project. The meetings only tackled the issue of resettlement of 23 residents to be affected by the road-widening, he added.

Gime said DPWH did not conduct a consultation with the villages regarding the trees and they were not furnished a copy of the permit to cut issued supposedly by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

He said the tree cutting angered the people of Bulan, especially those overseas, who went home to the town for their fiesta last May and found the “tree tunnel” almost gone.

Gime said the Bulan townsfolk protested via Facebook.

Bulan Mayor Marnellie Ballesteros-Robles, in a phone interview last week, said the project was  opposed because it was not explained clearly to the people and even the local government of Bulan.

She appealed to the national government to “clearly state to us the nature and entirety of the projects” and to “follow the right process.”

Dialogue

Lucy Castañeda, DPWH-Bicol spokesperson, said DPWH had stopped the cutting of trees after opposition from Bulan. She said Sorsogon-DPWH’s field office had obtained complete documents and obtained a permit to cut from DENR on May 8.

“DPWH was given permission to cut down 301 of the trees… in Bulan to give way to the additional .23 meters by 250 meters on the sides of the road that would span 1,506 linear meters (1.506 kilometers),” said Castañeda.

She said the permit came with a responsibility to plant 100 trees for every one tree that would be cut down, totaling to 30,100 new trees that would be planted by DPWH on a location to be chosen by DENR.

She said the road is expected to be finished on July 5 but protests might  delay it.