Lingayen- – -Vice Governor Jose Ferdinand Z. Calimlim, Jr. said the provincial board will discuss what necessary actions must be taken regarding the failure of the Dept. of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the Dept. of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to consult and coordinate with the provincial government on the cutting of more than 500 trees along the Manila North Road (MNR). This developed after the DENR issued permission for the DPWH to cut the trees within 45 days. Expressing disgust, the Vice Governor said the agencies should have consulted the provincial government first as he further noted that recommended course of action will soon follow. “Dapat ikonsulta muna sa komunidad, mga tao, at sa provincial government lahat ng nangyari dito sa Pangasinan at makuha ang kabuuang sentimyento ng mga tao,” the Vice Governor said. It can be recalled that in his letter to the DPWH and DENR dated March 5, 2015, the Governor stated that the provincial government is “absolutely against the cutting of any more living and surviving trees along the MNR” as it further noted that it maintains its position that “concerned government agencies such as the DENR should exert all means to treat and rehabilitate those previously girdled tree that have a good chance of survival.” Pursuant to this, the provincial board had ratified provincial Resolution No. 269-2014 expressing their opposition “to the cutting of trees along the national roads within the province, with intent to preserve as many trees as possible with stern warning to the DPWH 3rd Pangasinan Engineering District not to cut any of the standing big trees, more or less 700..” The tree cutting went full blast after the DENR issued a permit to the DPWH last November 19. Meanwhile, Gov. Amado T. Espino, Jr. reiterated the provincial government’s stand that “only dead and dying trees can be cut.” Expressing no objection to the cutting and removal of dead trees, on the other hand, the provincial board required the DENR to certify that the trees to be cut are already dead and beyond revival. On the part of the DPWH, Emmanuel Diaz, head of the department’s second engineering district based in Rosales town, stated: “The trees should go. We have to finish the project by the end of this year.” The condemned trees were the remaining of the previously marked 1,829 trees marked for cutting in 2013 along the 42-kilometer stretch of the MNR in the towns of Rosales, Villasis, Binalonan, Pozorrubio, Sison, and Urdaneta City. Environmentalist groups, on the other hand, specifically the running-priest Fr. Robert Reyes has condemned the tree cutting even as they continuously exerting all efforts to stop the activities. In a separate interview, Virginia Pasalo, director of the Women in Development Foundation and a known environmentalist literally cried foul on the cutting of trees as she expressed lamentation and despair to the inevitability of the killing of the trees that have been there for decades. Pasalo likewise tagged Secretary Ramon Paje as Secretary of Destruction of the Environment and Natural Resources. (Ruby R. Bernardino)