YOU look at that neat spot in Paknaan, Mandaue City, paved lot bordered by a healthy vegetation of mangroves spilling towards Cansaga Bay. Neat, because its developer gouged out a good share of mangrove trees. Yet again another mindless act of rape on the ecosystem in this part of the world.

Members of the Kahugpungan sa mga Lumulopyo sa Sitio Tulay Homeowners’ Association (Kalstuhai) cried foul and sought audience with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) 7.

DENR 7 enforcement officer Viernov Grefalde, after a conference with the homeowners, ordered land developer Raul Canoy to submit the legal documents of his project on June 25.

If you consider the fate of the dead mangroves, you’d think “land developer” is one phrase replete with irony. Grefalde said Canoy was forced to stop work after the Mandaue City Government issued a cease and desist order to the developer and deployed police personnel in the area.

Grefalde said the Kalstuhai’s call is one good indication that people are being vigilant over their environment.

To recall, on Feb. 11, 2019, the DENR 7, through the Protected Area Management Board (PAMB), issued the 4th Engineering District Office of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) 7 the permit to earth-ball 934 mangrove trees in Dumanjug town, Cebu, to pave the way for a flood-mitigating infrastructure and a road-widening project.

It was also the residents in Tapon, Dumanjug who were first to react when they saw just how crude the supposed transfer of the trees was done; it was tantamount to exterminating the delicate vegetation.

The mangroves were supposedly part of the protected Tañon Strait Protected Area Seascape and covered by the Expanded National Integrated Area Systems Act.

But the DENR 7 officials insist the protection is not absolute when there is progress rolling along.

That there is such a mindset among our environment officials and some scrupulous developers makes it all the more crucial and necessary that the public be more vigilant.

There is a big need for more public education on the role of mangroves in our ecosystem and how they protect human lives in the long run.