NO WRIT: GOODBYE, TREES
THE Court of Appeals (CA) Special Division of Five in Cebu City dismissed lawyer Benjamin Cabrido Jr.’s petition seeking to stop the cutting of trees in Metro Cebu, but the lawyer is not giving up.
He filed on Thursday, Oct. 17, 2019, a motion for reconsideration and contested the reasons cited by the CA in dismissing his petition.
The CA Special Division of Five in Cebu City dismissed Cabrido’s petition on Friday, Oct. 11, saying the latter failed to convince them that the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) 7 and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) 7 violated environmental laws.
In its ruling, the CA said the procedure for tree cutting activities outlined in Republic Act 3571 was amended by Presidential Decree 953, which deleted the need for a prior recommendation from the local government unit’s committee on parks and wildlife, and its supervision during the actual tree-cutting.
The CA also said the DENR Administrative Order (DAO) 2018-16 has sufficient conditions and guidelines to be complied by the DPWH in conducting its tree-cutting activities, and that there is no showing that the environmental damage is of such magnitude as to prejudice life, health or property as what
Cabrido argued.
“We therefore do not find merit in Cabrido’s claim that RA 3571 was violated when the DENR issued DAO No. 2018-16, considering that the former has been superseded by more recent laws,” the resolution read.
Republic Act 3571 or the “Act prohibiting the cutting, destroying or injuring of planted or growing trees, flowering plants and shrubs or plants of scenic value along public roads, in plazas, parks, school premises or in any other public pleasure ground, among others,” was enacted in 1963 yet.
Cabrido’s petition filed on Oct. 3 is for the issuance of a Writ of Kalikasan with urgent prayer for the issuance of a temporary environmental protection order (Tepo) to stop DPWH 7 and the DENR 7 from cutting, destroying, injuring, or pruning all roadside trees.
The Writ of Kalikasan is a legal remedy that provides for the protection of one’s right to “a balanced and healthful ecology in accord with the rhythm and harmony of nature.”
Cabrido sought to protect the trees affected by road widening projects of DPWH. It had already cut four narra trees and one mahogany tree on Don Gil Garcia St. in Cebu City on Sept. 21. In the City of Naga, some 32 trees are also scheduled to be trimmed and cut.
Meanwhile, the running priest
Fr. Roberto Reyes, an environmentalist and activist, challenged the DENR 7 and the DPWH 7 to show the public the progress of their tree replacement program.
“Where are the hundreds of trees? It’s just a slogan. Show us in the last five years, where are the trees that you planted?”
Reyes was in Cebu on Thursday to campaign against the “‘extrajudicial killing of trees in the City of Naga, Cebu.”
He ran along the routes of Barangays Langtad, Inoburan and Tinaan in Naga on Thursday in protest of the cutting of 32 trees within 90 days to pave the way for road clearing and widening projects.
“Let us wake up, my dear kababayans, my dear Cebuanos. Your beautiful Cebu is dying. I will run and put white ribbons along these trees as a message that (if) you cut the trees, you cut your own life,” he said.
He also called on Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma to take concrete steps to stop the cutting of trees in Cebu.
“The church is quiet. I request Archbishop Jose Palma to condemn the killing of trees. Condemn it. It’s against the morals. It’s against God; it’s against nature. A real condemnation of anything that violates the law of God to preserve nature has to be done by the church. If Archbishop Palma will march and tell people to march, they will march,” he said.