FURTHER investigation will be conducted by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR)–Cordillera into the alleged “murder” of 45 pine trees in Baguio City.
DENR Regional Director Ralph Pablo said the act of killing trees violates Presidential Decree No. 705, or the Forestry Reform Code of the Philippines.
“I have instructed my men to really identify what area the place is and who owns the lot for us to be able to trace who did it because this incident could not be done by someone who does not know anything about the area. It looks like this was intentionally done by the owner for him to avoid getting a tree cutting permit. If a tree is alive and does not pose danger to lives and properties, then he will have a hard time getting a tree cutting permit. But if this was deliberate, then that’s foul,” Pablo stated.
Pablo’s directive came after a surprise visit by Mayor Benjamin Magalong along Legarda Road where the 45 pine trees on a private lot were intentionally killed.
The trees had unnatural holes which were drilled hollow and were most likely filled with chemicals.
“We received a text message from our hotline informing us that there was such an incident at Legarda which is unusual because the common practice there is the earlier practices of killing the trees slowly is girdling where the bark of a tree is unbarked, but the modus operandi of suspects are now levelling up by injecting the trees, boring it little by little so that it would not be obvious as compared to girdling,” Pablo explained.
Girdling, also called ring-barking, is the complete removal of a strip of bark from around the entire circumference of either a branch or trunk of a woody plant. Girdling results in the death of the area above the girdle over time.
Magalong tagged the act as murder and vowed to personally file charges against developers.
“The plan here is if an area having pine trees is privately owned and the owner of that lot will develop the area, he will be issued a cutting permit because we have an existing policy to that effect but what we are looking at is where should a structure be placed to decrease the number of pine trees to be cut, and trees that will be cut will have the appropriate replacement. But if these trees are alive, we will really inspect the area. We have spoken to Mayor Magalong and there will be a draft for the moratorium for constructing buildings including the cutting of trees,” Pablo added.
Baguio City Councilor Mylen Yaranan, in previous forums, warned some contractors against deliberately killing trees.