Pangasinan gov’t told to cut trees for road safety

SOME of the trees marked for cutting along the Binalonan Highway for the expansion of the Manila North Road (MNR), a government project WILLIE LOMIBAO/INQUIRER NORTHERN LUZON

BINALONAN, Pangasinan—Mayor Ramon Guico III and the town council have asked the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to cut down or trim the branches of dead trees along the Manila North Road (MNR) here because these pose danger to motorists.

The DENR had issued the DPWH a special cutting permit in November 2013 for over a thousand trees that stand in the way of MNR’s widening but the DPWH contractor left about 800 trees standing when the permit lapsed in February 2014.

Neither agencies could touch the surviving trees when a court in Urdaneta City issued a temporary environmental protection order (Tepo) over the trees at the behest of environmental groups.

Samuel Penafiel, DENR Ilocos regional director, said the agency can revive some of the trees only after the court has concluded the Tepo case.

Last week, the Binalonan council passed a resolution urging the agencies to trim the branches of the girdled trees which are already considered dead.

Some of the dead trees have started to lean toward the road, Guico said, adding that cutting these down to allow the widening project to proceed has also become necessary.

“Some portions of the MNR are already four lanes while the other portions are still two lanes. This could be dangerous for motorists who might think the road ahead is still four lanes and they may crash into a tree,” Guico said.

Girdling refers to the removal of bark from a tree trunk that prevents nutrients drawn from the roots from reaching the branches.

But some trees along the MNR section crossing Barangay Canarvacan here have started to sprout leaves, even though the local government had declared them dead.

“We intend to determine how to revive the trees and we understand there is a need to prune the branches. But with the Tepo, we could not touch the trees,” Penafiel told the Inquirer by telephone.

The DENR could not prune or treat the trees, fearful that “the environmental groups may accuse us of doing something that would lead to their death,” he said.

The DENR must also heed the Pangasinan provincial board which stopped the DPWH from felling trees on national highways which cross through the province.

Penafiel confirmed that narra and mahogany trees, which line the MNR, shed their leaves when rain is scarce as a way to adopt to low moisture. When rainy days come, the trees would flourish again.

“We have technical people who would question us if we touch the trees now. We just hope nothing would happen because of falling dead branches,” Penafiel said. Yolanda Sotelo, Inquirer Northern Luzon