Bishop Abet Uy has scored the cutting of several huge acacia trees in Tagbilaran City by the proponent of a gasoline station. He said that “we are badly needing huge trees (like Acacia trees) because of the damaging effects of global warming and climate change. The cutting of centuries-old Acacia trees is a big loss not only for this generation but for many generations to come.” (Photo by Yorbs Bayonas)
A Boholano lawyer has questioned the tree-cutting permit issued by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR)-Bohol to a gasoline station owner.
Atty. Jordan M. Pizarras has written a letter to DENR Bohol PENRO-OIC requesting copies of all documents submitted in relation to Shell Gas Station’s tree-cutting permit that paved way for the massacre of centuries-old acacia trees in the city.
According to Pizarras, the proponent of the project has included in its poster at the Taloto Tree-Cutting site an alleged tree-cutting permit which is “in truth not what it purports to be.”
Instead, it is a Private Tree Plantation Registration (PTPR) which is not a tree-cutting permit at all, Pizarras said in a Facebook post.
The PTPR is applicable only to trees in a plantation that an individual has planted himself and thus can harvest later, he wrote.
There is a sleight-of-hand or attempt at magic here, and the DENR office probably has been misled, said Pizarras.
Moreover, the PTPR does not apply to hundred-year-old heritage trees which were planted by “our forebear Bol-anons at the behest of Americans at the turn of the century.”
“The applicant cannot prove that he planted the over one-hundred-year-old trees himself. For this to happen, the applicant-individual-lot owner must be over a hundred years old himself,” Pizarras pointed out.
He added that the alleged permit does not apply to cutting of trees located along public roads – in this case, a national road on one side and a city street on the other.
“For this, the applicant needs a Special Permit from the DPWH and the LGU,” he stressed.
REQUEST FOR INVESTIGATION
Meanwhile, concerned citizens of Tagbilaran have requested a full investigation into the cutting of ancient and heritage Acacia Trees in Barangay Taloto, Tagbilaran City allegedly to give way for the construction of a Shell Gas Station.
In a letter, Atty. Pizarras of Pizarras, Flores, Subia and Associates wrote a letter to Mr. Ariel N. Rica, Officer-in-Charge of DENR-PENRO Bohol, and requested an investigation into whether persons responsible for the cutting of these trees have complied with the application requirements enumerated in DENR Administrative Order No. 2021-11 “Guidelines in the Processing and Issuance of Permits for the cutting, removal and relocation of Naturally Growing Trees.”
The trees are ancient and are already heritage trees and have been there as far as Atty. Pizarras can remember – probably 80 to 100 years old.
The letter also stated that if requirements were not strictly complied with, appropriate legal actions will be instituted against persons found responsible for this “reckless action as this is a clear violation of our Environmental Laws.”
MAYOR JANE YAP REACTS
In a separate Facebook post, City Mayor Jane Yap lamented that what happened with the cutting of acacia trees on Baguio Drive is a “wake-up call for all of us.”
“It was a huge loss for the city of Tagbilaran and we will do everything so that next time, there will be a need for clearance from the City for the issuance of a Permit to Cut from DENR,” she said in Bisaya.
The mayor said there will be investigation into the permit issued by the DENR to the gasoline station owner.
The construction at the gas station has been suspended pending investigation of their papers from DENR, she noted.
“This is also a wake-up call for all of us to protect trees, which is why in our next meeting with city legislators, I will propose a resolution to include mandatory clearance from LGU for cutting of old trees so that we have a hold on cutting permits that may be issued by DENR. We will also have a meeting with DENR national,” Mayor Yap said.
Bishop Abet Uy of the Diocese of Tagbilaran also mourned the fate of Acacia trees in the city.
In his post on Facebook, Uy said the cutting of huge acacia trees is a “big loss not only for this generation but for many generations to come.”
The bishop asked government officials, lawmakers, businessmen and agencies to work together to protect the remaining trees in Bohol.