Cebu residents petition to save roadside trees

‘SLAUGHTERED’Personnel of the Department of Public Works and Highways start the cutting of trees in the City of Naga, South Cebu. —GRACE ZABALA-OBERES

CEBU CITY—Two online petitions have been launched to protect the roadside trees in the cities of Naga and Carcar in south Cebu.

Milk Joy Pactores, 25, a digital marketing manager based in Cebu, on Wednesday started a 10,000-signature campaign to ask President Duterte and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to stop the cutting of trees.

“Let us not sacrifice earth’s lungs for our human convenience. We might not feel the effect now but our future generations surely will. Save the trees!” the petition read.

As of Wednesday night, the petition had gathered 3,391 signatures.

A separate petition in Change.org spearheaded by Tingog Kinaiyahan also gathered 3,908 signatures since it was launched on Thursday.

Part of heritage

Tingog Kinaiyahan’s petition targets 1,000 signatures.

“The trees south of Cebu are part of our culture and heritage as a Cebuano, aside from the environmental protection they give the inhabitants of the island,” their petition read.

Tingog Kinaiyahan said the trees should not be “slaughtered” simply because of road safety reasons. “If one cannot see the trees while driving as we have done so all our lives down south, then maybe one is not fit to drive,” it said.

“Man caused the hazards. The trees simply exist where they have done so before any of us. What good will it do us if we plant a million seedlings for pictures to post and we cut the grown trees that already do the carbon absorption we need now? Protect our protectors against the climate crisis that threatens our survival.”

The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) planned to cut 151 trees to give way to the 73-kilometer Metro Cebu Expressway project, which will connect Naga in the south to Danao City in the north.

The DPWH said it would plant 100 seedlings for every tree cut.

Environmental lawyer Benjamin Cabrido earlier sought the intervention of the Court of Appeals to stop the cutting of trees in Cebu City.

Cabrido filed a petition for the issuance of a writ of kalikasan with a prayer for the issuance of a temporary environmental protection order.

A writ of kalikasan is a legal remedy that provides protection of one’s constitutional right to a healthy environment. “Kalikasan” is a Filipino word for nature.

The DENR allowed its office in Central Visayas to cut four century-old narra trees and one mahogany tree on M. Velez Street at Barangay Capitol Site in Cebu City.

In his Facebook post, Cabrido said the DENR did not have any jurisdiction to issue tree-cutting permits.