In Naga Acacia tree falls, stalls traffic

CEBU, Philippines - A fallen 100-year-old Acacia tree caused a bottleneck in the main road of barangay Langtang, City of Naga, yesterday dawn.

Except for a damaged fence, no one was reported hurt when the tree fell.

City administrator Arthur Villamor said the tree fell down before 2 a.m., stranding motorists.

It took a city hall payloader and chainsaw three hours to clear the road.

Villamor said the neighboring town of San Fernando also sent its chainsaw and some heavy equipment to do the job.

He said the tree was a hundred years old and was huge.

Meanwhile, in light with this incident, Villamor said he and Mayor Val Chiong will request the "proper agency" to evaluate the city's ancient acacia trees.

Villamor said the city may seek the help of the Bureau of Forestry regarding this matter.

"We need to get their authority if there is a need to uproot some of these trees kung tan-aw nila nga delikado na ni," he said, adding that he believes the tree's age must have been the reason for its fall.

The tree, before it fell, was leaning toward the direction where there were no houses, Villamor said.