ANGELES CITY – The convenor of the Save the Trees Coalition (STC) has raised the alarm over the reported sale of mahogany trees that were balled from the Angeles-Magalang Road in Barangay Pandan here recently to give way to the road widening project of the government.
Cecille Yumul, convenor of the STC, said she uncovered the illegal sale last week and discovered that 68 mahogany trees aged more than 20 years old were already sold for more than P100,000 each and were planted in Lubao town.
Yumul said the sale and transfer of the trees to Lubao were clear violations of the memorandum of agreement (MOA) the STC signed with the city government represented by City Environment and Natural Resources Officer Rommel Santiago.
Yumul said the mahogany trees were planted along the Angeles-Magalang Road right after the Mt. Pinatubo eruption in 1991. She said the said trees were not hard to ball since they are not firmly rooted in the ground because of the volcanic ash that blanketed wide areas of the city after the eruption hardened.
Pandan Barangay Captain Jerry Alejandrino was reportedly upset because he was made to understand that the mahogany trees will just be transplanted at the adjacent Jao property in the village but was surprised to learn that they were transported to another place.
