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Were the cuttings of premium hardwoods at MSU Naawan campus covered by permits issued by the DENR Secretary or his authorized
representative?
MSU Naawan has, accordingly, applied for said permits, but whether the applications were approved or granted by DENR is another matter. The
application for special permit to cut trees, particularly protected hardwoods, inside public school grounds and in private land, is usually acted
upon by DENR authorities only upon compliance of certain requisites, or upon submission among others of the following:
1. Vicinity map and sketch of the area where the trees to be cut are located
2. Inventory of the trees to be cut which covers
a. Number and species
b. Diameter and height of each tree and estimated volume of timber to be generated
c. Estimate of total volume in board feet of cut lumbers/woods and their estimated value
d. Utilization plan of the cut timbers
3. Infrastructure/physical development plan of the area where the trees are found
4. Building permit
5. Community consultation on the cutting of trees
6. Confirmatory assessment by DENR environmental officers of the site and the trees to be cut
Once compliance is made, DENR may issue the permit to the requesting party often with certain conditions, like the possibility of saving some
trees by moving the construction of the building a little away from premium trees, or by earth-balling and relocating the trees; the submission of a
replanting plan for the replacement of the felled trees; fixing the schedule or timeframe of tree cutting; and the supervision of the cutting by the
CENRO or other DENR environment officer.
The permit has exclusive period and is not transferable. No cutting shall be started without the presence of the DENR supervising
representative(s). The presence of a DENR officer is important to control the cutting because if the number of trees cut exceeds the number
requested and the period of cutting goes beyond the period permitted, the permit may be rendered null and void. Penalties may be imposed in
accordance with existing laws and regulations.
Now, has MSU Naawan management complied with all the requirements to warrant the issuance of a tree cutting permit in connection especially
for the construction of a gymnasium or a Training and Student Activity Center on campus?
Accordingly, the application for permit was submitted to DENR 10 sometime in late November or early December 2013. The cutting of trees on
the other hand was commenced sometime in the middle of January 2014. Obviously, there was no material time to comply with the requirements
in the issuance of a permit, so much so that the cutting involved 28 Narra trees which needed the approval of DENR Central office.
By the mindless way it felled, bulldozed, uprooted and the careless manner it dumped the trees in a log site that was also cleared of some trees, a
permit is apparently absent. We have not also read or heard of any public notice or announcement on scheduled consultations anent the cutting of
trees with community stakeholders, particularly with the constituency of MSU Naawan campus who planted, nurtured and cared for the trees for
years. And no DENR officer was ever around to supervise the cutting of the trees.
But, was there really a permit as claimed (without showing) by the MSU Naawan Chancellor during an interview with ABS CBN on February 13,
2014?
If the answer is affirmative, then MSU Naawan management has nothing to worry. It may instead put DENR 10 in hot water on the possibility of
issuing a hanky-panky permit.
If, on the other hand, the answer is negative then all concerned in MSU Naawan are in for big trouble. DENR is in the position of filing a case
against the responsible persons in the proper court. (William R. Adan, Ph.D., was a research and extension worker, professor and the first
chancellor of the Mindanao State University at Naawan, Misamis Oriental. He was a British Council fellow and trained in 1994 at Sheffield
University, United Kingdom, on Participatory Planning and Environmentally Responsible Development. Upon retirement, he served as national
consultant to the ADB-DENR project on integrated coastal resource management. He is the immediate past president of the MSU Alumni
Association)