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BY GLENN VIDAL BEUP
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Friday, June 9, 2017
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ROXAS City – Over 178 mahogany trees along the national highway from Ivisan to Dumarao town in Capiz were cut down without permit from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), the agency claimed.
The trees were affected by an ongoing road widening project of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), according to Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office (PENRO) head Valentin Talabero.
PENRO Technical Services Division chief Edwin Borja said the Public Works department violated a joint memorandum circular it signed with DENR and the Department of Social Welfare and Development in 2014.
Cutting the affected trees “should have clearance [from] the secretary of the DPWH after securing permit from the DENR,” Talabero wrote District Engineer Dene Baldonado Jr. of the DPWH Capiz 2nd Engineering District.
“In every tree cut, a replacement of 100 hundred seedlings is required to be planted by the DENR in a designated area as part of our campaign for environmental protection,” the Environment officer added.
The 2014 memo provides that the agencies must “[ensure] the planting of 100 seedlings/saplings/propagules as replacement for every tree cut within or along the road right-of-way project of all DPWH-administered infrastructure projects.”
“The DPWH shall transfer funds to the DENR, which shall [use the amount] to implement the tree replacement projects that engage Pantawid Pamilya beneficiaries and/or poor communities at the project site,” the memo stated.
According to Baldonado, the road widening project Talabero was referring to was “under the supervision of the DPWH regional office.”
“The road-widening project which at present we have supervision and with no trees to cut is at Barangay Cudian in Ivisan. This was also our reply to PENR Officer Talabero on May 24 [sic],” Baldonado told this reporter.
DPWH and DENR should have inventoried the trees in areas affected by the road-widening project first, Borja said.
An inventory report must be submitted to the DENR secretary, who in turn will issue a cutting permit to the DPWH secretary. The latter official then issues clearance to the project implementers, said Borja.
“Our office (PENRO) has not received any request from DPWH district and regional offices to conduct an inventory,” a clear violation of the 2014 joint memorandum circular, Borja told this reporter.
“As per our verification, a total of 48 trees were noticeably cut down, but Capiz State University – Dumarao Campus officials said around 178 trees were actually cut down and uprooted,” he added. “These trees were planted in a row along the national road fronting the university.”
Panay News was still trying to reach the DPWH Region 6 for comment as of press time./PN
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