SOME residents of Magalang expressed disagreement over the town’s cutting of trees within the town plaza. Some of the trees, which I have seen personally during my visits to the town are already full-grown, comprising of agoo, neem, eucalyptus, narra and other hardwood trees.
For the municipal government of the said town, they have their reason to do so which is to give way to the development and beautification of the vicinity of the town plaza. For a fact, the municipal government had already secured cutting permits from the Department of the Environment and Natural Resources (DENR)-Central Luzon.
For the DENR, it requires the municipal government to plant 100 trees for every tree that was cut. This is a standard for every entity or individual that seeks from the government the authority to cut trees after justifying the need to do so.
Good enough however that some of the trees that were removed from the town plaza were earth-balled and transferred to other places, thus saving them from drying up or from withering.
While the dismayed residents seems to have their point and their reasons for such over the removed trees, the municipal government has its own too and that is to beautify the place as it is the show window of the said developing town. Aesthetic features have their role in showcasing progress and in enticing investors too.
The once somnolent town of Magalang is now on its fast-progressing state. The removal of the trees may be a battle for the environment versus development and such development seems to be unstoppable as evidenced by mushrooming commercial establishments and industries.
The trees that were cut shall be replaced anyway by more than a hundred fold, sadly however, the years the trees spent growing were lost. The newly planted trees meanwhile, would have to survive and spend several years to achieve their full grown age.
For those who expressed disagreement over the removal of trees, the municipality simply gave way to development of the town plaza area. Such removal anyway has been authorized by a municipal council resolution that was even endorsed to the Provincial Board of Pampanga. Further, such was also authorized by the DENR after the municipality secured a cutting and earth-balling permit for the trees.
More so, as per Municipal Administrator Daniel Xevier Lacson, the municipality shall see to it that the DENR-required planting of replacement trees shall materialize. Lacson added that the present municipal administration had already conducted tree-planting activities, a manifestation that the municipality indeed cares for the environment.
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