DENR exec disowns tree deal in key road project

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

LINGAYEN, Pangasinan—A top regional environment official has disowned an agreement to spare trees marked for cutting for a road expansion project, but a provincial official said the agreement remained valid.

In a letter to Rep. Kimi Cojuangco, Samuel Peñafiel, Ilocos regional director of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), said his office would not enter into any agreement on the trees without consulting officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), the agency implementing the road project in Cojuangco’s district.

“[S]ince the agreement has been signed by our Penro (provincial environment and natural resources officer Leduina Co) and Cenro (community environment and natural resources officer Fernando Estrada) without my consent and approval, let me assure [you] that, as far as I am concerned, it does not affect the official position of my office,” Peñafiel said in the undated letter.

But provincial administrator Rafael Baraan said the agreement remained valid and expressed disappointment that Peñafiel disowned it.

Baraan said he expected Peñafiel “to be the first to stand up to defend the trees.”

Peñafiel’s letter came after Mark Cojuangco, a former congressman and the husband of Kimi, appealed to the provincial board not to allow politics to delay the completion of the Manila North Road widening project.

Mark, son of the founder of the most influential political party in Pangasinan province, has cited a provincial ordinance, Pangasinan Environment Code, enacted by the board that allowed tree removal if these are blocking key road projects.

Co, in a two-page memorandum to Peñafiel, said she did not intend to defy the position of the DENR.

Peñafiel recalled explaining the technical and scientific considerations for the tree cutting during a hearing of the provincial board in March last year. He explained, among others, that the trees were no longer efficient as carbon sinks and were not effective in minimizing soil erosion.

Baraan signed the agreement to stop the tree cutting. Co, Estrada, DPWH representatives and groups supporting a national campaign to rescue trees also signed the deal.

Mark Cojuangco had questioned the validity of the agreement, saying government representatives who agreed to the terms were not authorized by their superior officials.

Co, in her memorandum to Peñafiel on Sept. 18, said she “was of the impression that the agreement dwelt only on the issue regarding the dead trees and not [about] other or future trees affected by the project.” Yolanda Sotelo and Gabriel Cardinoza, Inquirer Northern Luzon