More people oppose cutting of acacias

CEBU, Philippines - The permit to cut the century-old acacia trees in southern Cebu may have been recalled but more and more people continue to put into the open their opposition to the cutting.

Yesterday, at least 70 members of the Inter-Mountaineering Society,  Youth for a Livable Cebu, and tri-athletes, among others, hit the streets to make their opposition known via the “Solidarity walk, run, bike”.

The group was led by Fr. Robert Reyes who climbed up one of the trees in Naga City last week to protest the cutting.

The event yesterday kicked off at 9:30 a.m. in Barangay Tinaan, Naga City and ended around midday in Perrelos, Carcar City.

At least 70 trees were tied with white ribbon purposely because the color is not associated with any political group.

Reyes said the activity was aimed at calling Cebuanos to show concern for the trees.

“I’m not from Cebu but I want to encourage all Cebuanos to be part of the campaign in saving trees,” he said, adding, “ang message lang po talaga namin dito is to show that old trees should be taken care of and sick trees can be cured.”

Dondon Dimpas, a member of IMS, said the recall of the cutting permit is not an assurance that the trees will not be cut eventually.

“Bisan og naay good news nga cancellation of the permits, were not sure nga mobalik ra gyod ni pila ka months from now, wala ta kahibaw that is why we will have series of activities to protect the trees,” he said.

Francis Sollano of YLC also shares the concern, saying the findings regarding the condition of the trees must be reassessed. 

“Ang stand man sa YLC is that if it’s really sick, okay kaayo namo nga i-cut down silay because we want public safety also… We want that the trees will be re-assessed. As much as possible, we want heritage trees to be preserved and have a rehabilitation program for the trees,” he said.

Nevertheless, another piece of good news, Reyes said, is that DENR Secretary Ramon Paje had given him a call and informed him that he would rethink the issuance of permits to cut trees nationwide.

“He (Paje) told me that he is glad that Cebuanos are very passionate in showing love of the environment and heritage preservation,” Reyes said.

Meanwhile, DENR information officer Eddie Llamedo said the agency is open to the proposal of the Movement for a Livable Cebu and Philippine Earth Justice Center for the two agencies to have the trees reassessed by independent experts.

“Let’s wait how fast the PEJC and MLC hold their assessment on trees which have been earlier identified by DENR to be defective and hazardous and pose danger to public safety,” he said.

“As far as DENR is concerned, we made our assessment. It’s now the M LC and PECJ turn to conduct a third-party assessment and perhaps compare notes with ours,” he added. (FREEMAN)