Environmental groups in Manila remain unconvinced by government assurances that tree-cutting for a toll road project is legal and sustainable.
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources said San Miguel Corporation’s Southern Access Link Expressway Corporation holds a permit to remove trees along Quirino Avenue for the Southern Access Link Expressway project. The company must plant 50,700 replacement seedlings in Manila.
Groups including the Philippine Association of Landscape Architects and Caritas Philippines rejected the assurances. They said mature trees provide cooling and flood control that saplings cannot match soon.
Protesters gathered along Mabini Street on May 26. Some hugged trees marked for cutting. Robie Siy of the Move as One Coalition said the project should have undergone full environmental review.