THE Cagayan de Oro City Local Environment and Natural Resources Office (Clenro) has directed the clearing team to take extreme caution in clearing trees obstructing public roads and sidewalks.
Clenro chief Engineer Armen Cuenca said they have advised the city's clearing team to inform its office ahead when a tree should be cut.
He said this will still undergo evaluation before coming up with a decision.
"Kami ang mo-evaluate kung angayan ba putlon or trim lang kay naay uban nga na-interesan lang nila ang kahoy busa ilang ipaputol," Cuenca said.
Cuenca said the clearing team had since authorized and assigned Clenro to do the trimming or cutting of the trees that got in the way of the clearing operations.
The logs will then be brought to Clenro and turned over to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
Last week, environmental group Task Force Macajalar protested the cutting of decades-old trees along the national highway for a supposed road widening project.
Sustines Magallanes of Task Force Macajalar said he was alarmed to see more than 30 trees already cut along the national highway in Barangays Tablon, Cugman, and Gusa.
The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) meanwhile said the tree-cutting was done with a permit from the DENR.
Sustines Magallanes of Task Force Macajalar said while he supports development programs such as road widening, the environment should not be compromised.
"A development should be inclusive, with people's participation, sustainable and ecologically sound. Indiscriminate cutting of trees does not fall within the the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) framework. I hope the DENR and the DPWH learn from this, careful development planning should be considered before taking into action like cutting of helpless trees. This is a crime against humanity," Magallanes said.