By: Carmel Loise Matus 12:16 AM November 12th, 2015
CEBU CITY—The Department of
Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in Central Visayas has ordered a power
company to stop its construction of a solar energy project in Toledo City after
it found that 982 trees had been illegally cut in the area.
“This is the biggest so far in terms
of the number of trees cut and mostly premium and native tree species,” Eddie
Llamedo, the department’s regional spokesperson, said in an interview.
Raul Pasoc, community environment
and natural resources officer (Cenro) in Cebu City, issued the cease-and-desist
order on Oct. 28 to SunAsia Energy Inc. (SAEI), through its project manager,
Jose Enrique Tolentino. SAEI is the developer of the 55-megawatt project of
First Solar Energy Corp.
Notice of
violation
Officials of SAEI failed to present
a tree-cutting permit when inspectors from the DENR’s enforcement division,
Cenro-Cebu City and Cenro-Toledo City came to the project site on Oct. 26.
The Environmental Management Bureau
(EMB) in Central Visayas also issued a notice of violation to First Solar
Energy Corp. on Nov. 4 for the same violation, Llamedo said.
SAEI, a Filipino company which
develops renewable energy, specifically solar energy, has cut the trees to
clear the 113-hectare project area in Barangay Talavera in Toledo, 54.3
kilometers from this city. Llamedo said a barangay resident informed the Cenro
about the illegal logging operation.
A total of 982 species of tipolo,
pangantoon, bangkal, bagalunga, lanutan, acacia, narra, mahogany, gmelina, and
lamio trees were cut, according to the memorandum issued by Cenro-Toledo
supervisor Lutheran Hernando and addressed to Pasoc.
The illegal cutting activities were
said to have started in September. The toppled trees were bulldozed and covered
with soil materials when the inspectors checked the area.
It took the team four days to
account for the volume of felled trees, or approximately 2,190 cubic meters or
equivalent to 928,560 board feet with an estimated cost of P18.5 million. One
board foot is equivalent to P20.
The DENR will file charges against
both companies for violation of Presidential Decree No. 705, or the Forestry
Code of the Philippines, and Executive Order No. 23, declaring a moratorium on
the cutting and harvesting of timber in the natural and residual forests.
The regional department “is not
antidevelopment as long as it toes the line of the existing forestry and other
environmental laws, rules and regulations,” Llamedo said.
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