TABUK CITY, Kalinga: Anonymous advocates who object to the cutting of trees along the Bulanao-Dagupan provincial road for the road widening project of the provincial government may have unwittingly nailed their 'Stop cutting our trees' posters on unaffected trees causing further damage. During the Kapehan meeting held at the Capitol Building last week, Community Environment and Natural Resources Office (Cenro) Officer Imelda Casiwan calls on the anonymous group to refrain from nailing their protest posters on trees as it injures and impairs the structural integrity of trees making them susceptible to infections. She said that nailing trees is a violation of Section 3 of Republic Act 3571, which prohibits damaging trees along public roads, parks, schools and other public areas, with similar prohibition under Presidential Decree 953, which penalizes a violator of imprisonment from six months to two years, or a fine of P500 to P5,000, or both at the discretion of the court. She requests that the individuals in charge of the nailed posters take these down and put these in proper places. Casiwan said that in accordance with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources' national greening initiative, 27,000 tree seedlings (narra and Melina) will be planted in strategic locations to replace the trees that were removed for the road widening.
