Last Saturday, August 30, my dad went jogging around the Rizal Park, in Aurora Blvd.  But to get there, he walks all the way from our home.  He always passes by the Manila Cathedral.  But that Saturday he saw that the trees around the church have been cut off.  He thought perhaps the church’s admin has decided to cut the trees off, 27 trees in total.  He thought perhaps that the church has decided on this because the trees have served as some sort of hang-out place for the snatchers, street kids and the like.

But, then that Sunday, he read in the papers the real reason.  He told me about it and made me read the paper.  So, I did, and now, here I am writing this piece.

Apparently the Intramuros Administration is the one who commissioned the cutting of the trees.  According to published reports, the Intramuros Administration wanted to “redevelop” the area.  This sounds like a perfectly good reason, and a perfectly noble thing to do.  The only thing they, along with the contractors, did wrong was to not adhere to the prescribed in the permit issued to them by the DENR.

The DENR gave them a “Tree Cutting and Balling Permit”.  This permit explicitly states that they are prohibited to cut Narra trees, which should be balled, meaning that they should have dug the ground around the tree and lifted the whole tree up including the roots, soil and all, and transfer that to another location inside Intramuros.  There’s also mention of having to issue a notice to the public and to the baranggay council about the tree cutting, and informing the DENR when the cutting would happen so they send experts to assist and provide technical advice on the procedures.

All these conditions were not met.  Aside from cutting the trees only from the trunk, the administration did not issue any notices, nor notified the DENR about the schedule of the cutting.

According to the DENR region director, Corazon Davis, there’s a law, PD 903, which entails penalties and prescribes imprisonment for damaging or cutting of trees, and also added that “appropriate charges will be filed against those who violated the law.”