Gwen on Tomas' claim: "Gidaman"

CEBU, Philippines - After suing environment officials for what he said were the cutting of 263 trees at the 3.2-hectare Ciudad project site, Cebu City South District Representative Tomas Osmeña is now apparently unsure about his claim.

“I’m not sure… You can’t build a mall in between the trees. Their original paper stated plainly that there would be no cutting of trees,” was Osmeña’s reply when asked by The FREEMAN, through text message, on how convinced he is that the 263 trees were already cut down.

At the Capitol, Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia said Osmeña is dreaming.

“Usa ka damgo, gidaman (He’s dreaming and talking in his sleep),” Garcia told reporters.

Garcia said she immediately ordered the Provincial General Services Office (PGSO) to check the report, which turned to be untrue.

Osmeña sued Environment Management Bureau (EMB) 7 Regional Director Fernando Quililan, William Cunada, division chief of the Environmen tal Impact Assessment and Michael Lloyd Dino, FAPDC executive vice president yesterday before the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas for alleged connivance in what he said was illegal cutting of trees.

Osmeña had said he was informed by “reliable sources” that the personnel hired by the project developer already “massacred” or cut about 263 trees within the project site which included those planted and naturally grown decade-old trees, leaving behind only 37 trees uncut.

Fifth Avenue Property Development Corp. (FAPDC) spokesperson Jonji Gonzales said that no trees were cut down.

There were 23 species of trees in the said properties and only about ten percent are considered premium trees. The FREEMAN personally went to the site and observed several trees were still standing within the property.

Based on the Inventory of Trees at Cuidad project that was submitted to the DENR in connection of their Environmental Compliance Certificate application, the following trees were listed: Mahogany (109), Ipil-Ipil (48), Gemilina (78), Coconut (9), Balete (11), Narra (5), Molave (3), Alim (14),  Anabiong (7), Binunga (2), Bogo (1), Indian tree (2), Kaloloi (7), Neem tree (7), Pandan (3), Talisay (7), Tibig (8) and ten fruit-bearing trees such as Sampaloc, Mangga, Mansanitas, Guava and Kaimito.

Gonzales added that they only submitted one document to DENR, which is the inventory or identification of trees, complete with the kind of specie and tree identification number, which will be affected by the development.

With the filing of the case, Gonzales is hoping the DENR will assess their ECC application based on its merit. He said that it is a sad day for Cebu that a P1.2-billion investment that will generate 2,800 jobs might face rough sailing because of unverified information and mere speculations.

Ciudad is a joint project between FAPDC and the Cebu Provincial Government at the Banilad area that was blocked by Osmeña and his allies.

Quililan, in a separate interview, said that the filing of this case won’t affect his decision whether to grant or disapprove the ECC application. — /JPM (FREEMAN)