Lim orders probe on tree-cutting along Quirino Avenue

MANILA, Philippines - Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim yesterday ordered an immediate investigation into six trees that had been cut down to make way for a gas station along Quirino Avenue.

The trees, located near the intersection of Quirino Avenue and Pedro Gil street, were cut down allegedly upon the request of landowner Federico Dy.

“Manila has a tree-planting policy and campaign. We plant trees every Saturday and it’s a continuous campaign. Then these people will just cut these trees for commercial purpose and personal gain? We cannot allow this act to just slip through our fingers,” Lim said.

He said they will file charges against the “agency responsible and the people involved.”

City engineer Armando Andres, upon the directive of Lim’s chief of staff Ric de Guzman, instructed District 5 engineer Josephine Saing to investigate the matter.

Andres presented a copy of a tree-cutting permit issued to Dy by Dr. Jose Andres Diaz, executive director of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources-National Capital Region (DENR-NCR) office, which allowed the landowner to chop down three narra trees and three mahogany trees to give way to the construction of a proposed Metro Oil gas station.

The permit was accompanied by a DENR-NCR cerficate showing that Dy had delivered 260 saplings of indigenous or endemic species to replace the trees that had been cut down. 

Lim said the DENR committed a violation by allowing a private firm to cut the trees. He referred to an incident in which the DENR charged Intramuros administrator Anna Maria “Bambi” Harper with violating Presidential Decree 953 for cutting down 29 trees in the vicinity of the Manila Cathedral.

Harper, however, said she was only indirectly involved as the contractor was the one at fault.

He said Dy’s case is “similar to the trees cut in Intramuros. So why would this case be any different? It was a clear violation of the law. Besides, this gas station is a private entity, not a government infrastructure project, giving them no authority to cut the trees.”