A DAVAO City councilor wants the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to explain why it allowed cutting of trees in Clifford Park along Roxas Avenue.

Councilor Pilar Braga said on Saturday, November 2, that she has been receiving messages from concerned citizens regarding the cutting of the trees at the center island park.

Braga said she was not personally aware of the plan, although she noticed that the entire area was closed.

The councilor wants to know if the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR)-Davao gave permission for the cutting of the trees.

“We need answer to this question in good faith because, as Dabawenyos, we love our beloved Davao City,” Braga told Sunstar Davao in a text message Saturday, November 2.

She said that if the plan of the local government is to convert and enhance the area into a children’s recreational park, then there is no need for them to cut down the trees.

“If the good intention of the local government is to improve, enhance, or convert the area into a children’s recreational park, can it not be done without cutting down the trees that have long been there adding to the greening of urban centers?,” Braga said.

She also questioned the idea of having a children’s park in the area as it might pose risks especially in times of major traffic.

Braga said that Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio would have not allowed the cutting of the trees in this area considering she is an environmental advocate herself.

Interfacing Development Interventions for Sustainability (Idis) founder Arnold Vandenbroeck posted on his Facebook account on Wednesday, October 30, photos of the cut decennia-old trees in the center island park between the Davao Central Post Office and the Marco Potel.

Vandenbroeck said he was dismayed after discovering that all of the trees in the park were removed.

Idis executive director Chinkie Peliño-Golle said on Friday, November 1, that there was no prior consultation when the cutting of the trees was executed.

Peliño-Golle, previously, confirmed that Braga will open up the matter to the 19th City Council.

DENR and the City Environment and Natural Resources Office (Cenro) still have still to respond for comments on the matter.

Braga was also the councilor who opened up to the council about the Department of Public Works and Highways drainage and revetment project near Ma-a riverbanks wherein 150 trees were chopped in August, calling the project “alarming and worrisome”.