The Department of Education 7 issued a directive requiring schools to remove hazardous trees within their campuses, a government press release said.
DepEd 7 director Carmelita Dulangon said this was decided to avoid incidents of those trees falling on students and teachers. The directive has been disseminated to division schools superintendents in the entire Central Visayas, composed of Negros Oriental, Siquijor, Cebu and Bohol, she said.
However, Dulangon also said the school heads should secure special tree cutting permits from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
Eddie Llamedo of the DENR said they are willing to assist DepEd, as this concerns the safety of students. “Our agency has not received any request. But it will go through the same process as cutting trees along the roads. An assessment on the condition of the trees, and a tree inventory will be done,” he added.
He said certifications from the school principal, barangay and local government unit chiefs have to be obtained, as proof that they do not object to the cutting of the defective tree.
Llamedo said speedier action will be done for “institutional request” from the office of Dulangon, enumerating the schools and identifying trees of concern based on initial assessment by school officials.
The special tree cutting permit applications will then be forwarded to the DENR central office for approval as the regional offices are not authorized to issue such permits.
Dulangon recalled an instance when she was still a division superintendent, where two students were hospitalized after an old tree fell and hit them. She said she did not want a similar thing to happen again, reason why she ordered the cutting off of old and hazardous trees in schools. (PNA)
