P’sinan execs tell DPWH: No cutting of trees on Manila –Sison road project

By JojoRiñoza and LiezelBasaIñigo

LINGAYEN CITY, Pangasinan — The provincial government stands firm on its objection to the cutting of trees to give way to the road-widening construction of the Manila North Road Urdaneta City-Binalonan-Pozzorubio-Sison project.

“We wish to make it clear that we are absolutely against the cutting of any more living and surviving trees along the Manila North Road,” said Gov. Amado T. Espino Jr. in a letter dated Mar. 5, 2015 and addressed to Department of Public Works and Highways Regional Office 1 director MelanioBrosios and Department of Environment and Natural

Resources Region 1 director Samuel Peñafiel.

“We maintain the position that concerned government agencies, such as DENR, should exert all means to treat and rehabilitate the previously girdled trees that have a good chance of survival,” he said in the letter.

A report from the DPWH Third Engineering District expressed concern over what it claimed is the need to cut 127 dead trees on the MNR.

The trees cited in the report are among the 770 trees spared from cutting, but were girdled, for the MNR widening project, traversing eastern Pangasinan towns- Rosales, Villasis, Binalonan, Pozorrubio, Sison, and Urdaneta City.

Girdling of trees in Wikipedia is defined as cutting through the bark all the way around (a tree or branch), typically in order to kill it or to kill a branch to make the tree more fruitful.