DPWH cuts 2 trees along Pangasinan road

THE STUMP of a freshly cut tree along the Binalonan town section of the Manila North Road in Pangasinan province. WILLIE LOMIBAO/CONTRIBUTOR

ROSALES, Pangasinan—Despite the absence of a tree-cutting permit, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) on Monday confirmed that it had felled two mahogany trees along the Manila North Road (MNR) in Binalonan town, Pangasinan province.

The trees were among the 21 that the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) had certified dead along the MNR, said Narchito Arpilleda, DPWH district office information officer.

“We cannot wait for them to topple down. This is a busy highway,” Arpilleda said in a telephone interview.

The DPWH had earlier posted notices on tree trunks along a section of the road from Urdaneta City to Sison town, warning motorists about dead trees that could fall on the road.

“Several trees along the MNR (Urdaneta-Pozorrubio section) have been certified dead by the DENR and may topple down without warning. Please take precautions,” it warned.

Last month, Fernando Estrada, community environment and natural resources officer, called the attention of the DPWH about the “dying and dead trees,” saying their condition posed a danger to motorists, especially during typhoons.

The trees may have died because these have been girdled, Estrada said in an interview last week. Girdling is the removal of a strip of bark around the tree trunk, stopping the free flow of nutrients from the ground to the leaves.

The DPWH had requested clearance from the DENR Ilocos regional office to cut down the dead trees but Samuel Penafiel, DENR regional director, advised the agency to coordinate with the provincial board.

In June, the provincial board passed a resolution prohibiting tree-cutting activities along the MNR.

“We are afraid that the identified trees will not be able to withstand strong winds, thereby exposing the public to possible hazards when they cave in or are uprooted,” district engineer Emmanuel Diaz said in his letter to the provincial government.

The dead trees are part of the 770 that have not yet been cut to give way to the widening of the 42-kilometer stretch of the MNR, which passes through the towns of Rosales, Villasis, Binalonan, Pozorrubio and Sison, and Urdaneta City. The project requires the cutting of 1,829 trees along the highway.

But when the tree-cutting permit that the DENR regional office issued to the DPWH expired in February, only 1,059 trees had been cut. The DPWH has a pending application for a permit extension in the DENR regional office.

Aside from opposing the DPWH application, environment groups also filed a petition for a temporary environmental protection order in a court in Urdaneta City in June.