Capitol OKs removal of dead trees on MNR
LINGAYEN—The provincial government has given its nod for the removal of dead tress that remain on the shoulders of the Manila North Road (MNR) along the Urdaneta City-Binalonan-Pozzorubio-Sison but remains steadfast in its decision to ban any cutting of live trees.
The letter of Governor Amado Espino Jr. dated March 5, 2015 to Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Regional Office 1 read: “We wish to make it clear that we are absolutely against the cutting of any more living and surviving trees along the Manila North Road, and we maintain the position that concerned government agencies, such as DENR, should exert all means to treat and rehabilitate the previously girdled trees that have a good chance of survival.”
Espino then clarified: “Consequently, the Provincial Government of Pangasinan interposes no objection to the cutting and removal of said dead trees, to avoid unnecessary accidents in the area, on condition that the DENR will certify that the trees that will be cut are already dead and beyond revival.”
The letter addressed to DPWH officer-in-charge regional director Melanio Brosios, and to regional director of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Regional Office 1, Samuel Peñafiel was in response to the request of Emmanuel Diaz, the district engineer of the DPWH Third Engineering District, to the DENR to cut 127 trees, it claimed to be dead, still standing along the MNR.
Diaz, as previously reported, noted that his office could not cut the “dead trees” by virtue of a provincial resolution.
The letter also noted, “At any rate, we do not want to be made as a convenient escape and to be blamed for any road accidents that might occur, as a result of unpredictable collapse of the dead trees.”
“In the first place, it was the DENR, in coordination with the DPWH, that girdled those trees,” it added.
The Sangguniang Panlalawigan earlier ratified resolutions 412 and 269, expressing their opposition to the cutting of trees along the national roads within the province, with intent to preserve as many trees as possible, with stern warning to the DPWH Third Pangasinan Engineering District not to cut any of the standing big trees along the MNR.
Some 1,059 trees were already felled by the DPWH for the road-widening project traversing Rosales, Villasis, Binalonan, Pozorrubio, Sison, and Urdaneta City- since November 2013 until the expiration DPWH tree cutting permit in February 2014.
The said 127 trees were among the 770 spared trees, with the expiration of the permit.
In October 2014, a tree pathologist, Dr. Ernesto Militante, a former University of the Philippines Los Baños professor, upon inspection of the surviving trees, concluded that the girdling was purposely to kill the trees.
He then recommended to rehabilitate the remaining trees, citing the trees’ indications for growth and development. (Johanne Macob)
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