The head of the Community Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) in Tagbilaran, Ariel Rica apologized for the delay in the processing of the permit to cut 2 trees inside a development site of a top real estate company.
He then assured The Bohol Tribune’s managing editor Ardy Araneta Batoy that the permit is good as approved and even said the trees can already cut down.
This was revealed during an interview on Thursday, May 6, 2021, over Open Forum Radio Program hosted by Batoy and Dave Albarado.
CENRO head Rica said in the same interview said that the request to cut trees inside Crown Plaza will be sent to the regional office of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), but assured that the request is good as approved.
It stems from the request of the Ashira Properties Development Corp. (APDC) to cut 2 trees in the site of Crown. Plaza located at Barangay Catarman, Dauis, Bohol.
The request was filed with the CENRO back in March 17, 2021 and a follow-up on the request was made after 2 days.
However, the request was not acted upon until May 6, 2021, even according to the Anti Red Tape Authority. (ARTA) should be processed within 7 days.
Batoy also raised concern how a certain employer if CENRO was seemingly unmindful of the concerns of the said client of the CENRO. The employee was unable to trace the concerns of the client even if she was already given ample information.
For his part, Rica apologized for the unacceptable behavior of his staff and accepted being at fault for the delay in the approval of the permit thinking that this was already acted upon the submission of the letter request to cut the tree.
Moreover, Rica told Batoy that the client may follow-up with the former by May 31, 2021, for the official permit to cut the trees inside the Crown Plaza site owned by APDC. But Rica repeated that the request of the client is good as “APPROVED”.