DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 15 May)—A city councilor here lambasted the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) for cutting 200 trees in Lanang to pave the way for the Samal Island – Davao City (SIDC) connector bridge project.
The trees were cut on May 9 near the coast of West Insular Village, which is just a 25-minute ride away from the Davao City Hall. The village is also near off-coast hotels and high-end subdivisions.
If proven to have “any violations,” Councilor Temujin “Tek” Ocampo, chair of the committee on environment and natural resources, said that he, together with the City Environment and Natural Resources Office, will file complaints against the DPWH.
He said most of the trees cut were old fruit-bearing trees.
Ocampo pointed out that the felled trees could have been of help in lessening the carbon footprint.
He said at the sidelines of Aprubado sa Konseho press conference that he would like to find out if DPWH had “legal basis” in cutting the trees.
Ocampo acknowledged that national projects cannot just be stopped “unless the city government opposes it, or all councilors will go against the project.”
In a press conference on April 22, DPWH-11 spokesperson Dean Ortiz said they are ready to plant 100 trees for every tree that would be cut as a replacement.
Ocampo said they will remind DPWH of the promise.
“We will monitor them if they would fulfill their promise to plant more trees,” he added.
In a radio interview with Super Radyo Davao Monday morning, lawyer Mark Peñalver, executive director of Interfacing Development Interventions for Sustainability (IDIS), said it is not timely to cut trees in urban areas amid the hot weather brought about by the current El Niño phenomenon.
He stressed the need to protect the trees in urban areas to provide shade for residents in the hot weather.
The Samal-Davao Bridge Project broke ground in October 2022, led by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Vice President Sara Duterte.
The project is funded by a P23-billion loan agreement between the Chinese and Philippine governments, and is expected to be completed by 2027. The two-way, four-lane bridge aims to reduce the current 15-minute boat ride from Davao City to Samal Island to only five minutes, and eliminating the long queue at the pier. (Ian Carl Espinosa / MindaNews)