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Baguio City Council suspends Vista Residences' tree cutting activities


The Baguio City Council has ordered Villar-led Vista Residences Inc. to suspend its tree-cutting operations in the summer capital, with 24 pine trees still set to be felled.

In a statement released through social media and shared by the Facebook page of Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong, the Baguio City Council said it suspended the tree-cutting activities to give more time for deliberations on the matter.

"Vice Mayor Faustino Olowan instructed the officers of the real estate company to postpone the cutting of the remaining 24 trees within the construction site at Purok 3, Outlook Drive Barangay," the statement read.

"The suspension order would give the council more time to deliberate on the matter in aid of legislation," it added.

It was referring to the Vista Residences project which has scored the necessary permits to cut down 54 trees — 53 Benguet Pine and one Norfolk Pine.

The company already earlier said the cutting of the 54 pine trees was in "full compliance with all relevant rules and regulations" and has been issued the paperwork to do so.

This was echoed by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), which said that the tree cutting activities is aboveboard.

The City Council said 24 out of the 54 trees remain standing, but the DENR said Vista Residences may still proceed with the cutting as it has already secured a Special Private Land Timber Permit (SPLTP).

"The trees may pose danger to lives and properties because they are hanging on steep slopes," Ralph Pablo, regional director of the DENR for the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), was quoted as saying.

Citing Vista Residences Consultant Teresita Castro, the City Council noted that the SPLTP is set to expire on Wednesday, July 15.

However, it noted that Vista Residences services head Allan Santos said it is not possible to reconfigure the architectural plan of the condominium that will be built in the area.

The DENR earlier said that Vista Residences committed to plant 10,800 seedlings in exchange for cutting down the 54 pine trees.

An online petition has since been mounted, urging Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong to stop the cutting activities.

"We are appealing to you because we know you also recognize the importance of trees in our beloved city and also because the company has already acquired a tree-cutting permit from DENR," the petition read.

Started by Michael Bengwayan, the petition has already reaped in 17,070 signatures as of this posting, short of its new goal of 25,000.

For his part, Magalong — who in his campaign was vocal in imposing a moratorium on cutting trees — expressed his dismay over the felled trees.

"We are saddened because we feel it is a big blow to our Regreening Master Plan amidst our request to the Office of the President for a tree-cutting moratorium," he said in a separate statement.

Vista Residences is a subsidiary of Vista Land & Lifescapes Inc. (VLL), which is chaired by businessman Manuel Villar Jr. — the Philippines' richest man, according to Forbes' Billionaires 2020 list.

Villar is married to Senator Cynthia Villar, who currently chairs the Senate committee on environment and natural resources, as well as the committee on agriculture and food.

VLL, a publicly listed company, posted a net income of P2.439 billion in January to March of 2020, down 7% from P2.622 billion the same quarter in 2019.

For the full-year 2019, the company reported a bottom line of P11.6 billion, up 10% from P10.5 billion in 2018.—AOL, GMA News

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