Another old acacia falls

CEBU, Philippines - Two days before “hazardous” trees in southern Cebu are scheduled to be cut, an 18-meter tall, century-old acacia tree in Barangay Perrelos, Carcar City fell down on the national highway dawn yesterday, hitting two houses and a junk shop.

Carcar City Mayor Nicepuro Apura said he received the report around 4 a.m. “Maayo nalang gyud walay physical injuries,” he said.

Members of the Carcar City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office were immediately deployed to the area but it took quite some time for them to remove the tree, causing major traffic congestion.

Both lanes had to be closed at first and vehicles had to be diverted but one lane became passable around 10 a.m.

“Results stated century-old acacia tree is about 195 centimeters in diameter and a height of around 18 meters. The cause of fall is attributed to the advanced stage of decay of the basal portion near the root system,” DENR-7 spokesperson Eddie Llamedo said following an inspection.

“The crown of the tree numbered 351 is too heavy for it to carry. The tree has been recommended for immediate cutting in an assessment by Embalzado last week,” he added.

Assessment of the trees that line the national highway in the south justified the application for a special tree cutting permit, which needs to be obtained from the environment secretary Ramon Paje since Executive Order 23 suspends the issuance of the permit at the regional level.

“Similar to San Fernando, we asked the mayor and the barangay captains to issue a certification interposing no objection to the sanitation cutting,” Llamedo said.

“I have not seen a presidential proclamation or any similar declaration by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines over those Carcar City century-old trees. If ever there is such, there should be a clearance from NHC as part of the requirements for the clearance or cutting. But, given the imminent danger, we can hasten the process of securing a clearance with the support of the LGU Carcar,” Llamedo explained.

Apart from yesterday’s fallen tree in Carcar, environment authorities identified four defective trees that include century-old Acacia trees and two gemelina tree species.

Both acacias are identified with tree numbers 347 and 353 with diameters of 165 cm and 73 cm, respectively.

DENR has earlier announced its intention of securing cutting permit for San Fernando after finding over 40 hazardous trees including three century-old acacia trees.

This number rose yesterday after a recent assessment found more roadside trees posing danger to passing vehicles and pedestrians.

“Based on the inventory conducted by Embalzado, around 77 trees are found to be deceased or defective, it means they should be cut. Of the 77, about 28 are century-old acacia trees with more than 80 cm in diameter and four acacia trees below 80 cm. The 45 are star apple, mahogany, jackfruit, molave, gemelina,” Llamedo said.

Llamedo said the operation to cut the defective trees will start in Naga City and later in San Fernando and Carcar depending on the approval of the permit.

“Naga City trees (7) will be the first ones to be cut then San Fernando and then Carcar while waiting for certifications from the barangays in the case of Carcar,” he said.

Montejo committed to hand-carry the request for clearance along with the complete supporting documents with utmost urgency.

Last year, a tree cutting permit was issued for the trees in Naga due to the first phase of the south-bound road widening project but the cutting was deferred following opposition from environmental advocates.

However, with an acacia tree falling in Barangay Ba-lud, San Fernando last week, DENR pushed for the sanitation cutting of the defective trees for the safety of residents and motorists in the areas where the trees stand.

In the San Fernando incident, the tree fell on a hauler truck passing the national highway. — with Bryner L. Diaz and Garry B. Lao/JMO (FREEMAN)