Ex-solon says trees need to be cut

DPWH workers start cutting on Aug. 5 one of seven trees that are in the way of a road-widening project funded by pork barrel in Barangay Tinaan, Naga City, Cebu province. CHRISTIAN MANINGO/CEBU DAILY NEWS

CEBU CITY—A former congressman who allowed the use of his pork barrel for a P1.2-billion road-widening project that is killing century-old trees in three towns in Cebu province is continuing to push for the project, saying a delay would escalate its cost.

Eduardo Gullas, former representative of Cebu’s first district, said the prices of construction materials were not getting cheaper and were rising as each day passed.

The cost of materials, he said, would no longer be the same as on the day the project cost was estimated.

To prevent the escalation of cost, he added that the project should be implemented and finished immediately.

Gullas said that while he respected the decision to stop cutting down the trees, the opinion of a third party should be sought since the cutting of trees was crucial to the completion of the road-widening project.

“We suggest a third party who is an authority on diseased trees to do an independent investigation and study the remaining diseased trees in Naga City, San Fernando town and Carcar City,” he said at a news conference on Saturday.

He added that cutting the already dying trees would also ensure the safety of people in the area.

DENR backs down

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) stopped the cutting of trees in the project site in the wake of mounting opposition to the killing of trees.

The DENR earlier wanted to cut down at least 88 trees in Naga, San Fernando and Carcar after its foresters diagnosed them to be “diseased and rotting.”

GULLAS INQUIRER PHOTO

The trees were among 154 that would be affected by the road-widening project that was funded by the pork barrel of Gullas and former Cebu City Rep. Tomas Osmeña.

Before Environment Secretary Ramon Paje ordered the recall of the special cutting permit issued to the DPWH, four century-old trees in Barangay Inoburan, Naga City, were cut on Aug. 5.

On Sunday, Fr. Robert Reyes, along with around 50 runners and bikers, lighted candles on the stumps of the cut trees.

“When somebody dies, you light a candle … Every living thing has a soul,” said Reyes, who chairs the National Coalition to Save the Trees.

The group also tied white ribbons around the trunks of acacia trees in Barangays Tinaan and Inoburan in Naga City.

Meaning of white

White ribbons were used because white symbolizes life and is the color associated with the resurrection of Christ, said Reyes.

The group proceeded to San Fernando, where they stopped at each of the 77 century-old acacia trees to tie a white ribbon around their trunks.

The solidarity run and biking ended in Carcar City, where the group also tied white ribbons around the trunks of two century-old acacia trees and two gmelina trees.

Gullas said that if the project would be finished, acacia trees would be planted on both sides of the four-lane road.

Teachers, students and members of the alumni association at Gullas-owned University of the Visayas would plant acacia seedlings provided by the DENR.

Gullas explained that he first conceptualize the widening of the Naga to Carcar stretch of Natalio Bacalso Avenue in 1992 when he served his first term as first district representative.

He said the planning of the project took 11 years and was completed in 2003.

The project spans 16.8 kilometers of Natalio Bacalso Avenue, from Barangay Tinaan in Naga City to Barangay Awayan in Carcar City, and would widen the road from two to four lanes.

It is the only arterial road that connects Cebu City to the southern part of Cebu province.

From grandfather to son

Gullas clarified that the project cost P1.025 billion and not P1.2 billion as earlier reported.

The project includes the rehabilitation and installation of 37 box culverts on six bridges.

He said he secured P236 million for the project from 2011 to 2014. Osmeña gave P400 million of his pork to the project.

Gullas said his grandson, now Cebu Rep. Gerald Anthony Gullas, would secure the balance of P375 million to complete the P1.025-billion budget requirement for the widening project.

When Gullas’ term expired in 2013, his grandson took over his post. With a report from Carmel Loise Matus, Inquirer Visayas