DPWH cuts century-old tree in Quezon

LUCENA CITY—The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) ignored the appeal of the Sariaya Heritage Council (SHC) to spare the town’s historical landmarks from destruction after road workers cut a century-old tree to give way to the government’s road-widening project along Maharlika Highway.

Danny de Luna, president of the SHC, said on July 27 road construction workers axed the grand and leafy kalachuchi tree in front of the town’s public cemetery along Maharlika Highway in Barangay (village) Sampaloc.

“It was axed down, thrown and dumped by the DPWH without any Menro’s (municipal environment and natural resources officer) permit nor official coordination with Sariaya local government,” De Luna told the Inquirer.

The DPWH did not plan to transfer the tree to continue to live and grow in another location, he lamented.

“The heritage tree now looks like firewood,” De Luna said as he described the uprooted tree dumped by DPWH workers in one corner of the cemetery.

He accused Public Works Secretary Rogelio Singson of “public deception.”

“(What he) is publicly saying in his press releases (is) different from what his engineers and contractors are doing in the field,” De Luna said.

Last month, the group appealed to the DPWH to spare the 19th-century Spanish adobe masonry unearthed during the repair and construction of the narrow Que-anuang Bridge at the town’s entrance coming from Manila.

The SHC also initiated an online petition on www.change.org, a popular website that hosts public petitions, to save the century-old public cemetery and the kalachuchi tree from destruction due to the widening of Maharlika Highway.

The SHC described the threatened landmarks as “silent witnesses” to the unfolding of the town’s history and important icons of its colorful culture and heritage.

On July 2, Singson, in a memorandum, ordered all DPWH officials to incorporate in their feasibility studies of road projects the preservation of historical sites and structures to avoid delays and changes.

He also reminded DPWH officials to closely coordinate with the National Historical Institute, the National Museum and National Commission on Culture and the Arts (NCCA) in identifying historical landmarks to avoid damage to these during road construction.

De Luna said he would bring the issue to Singson in a planned dialogue called for by the NCCA with the DPWH on the threats of road projects to Sariaya heritage structures, notably the Que-anuang Bridge.