The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), through its National Capital Region (NCR) office, on Wednesday defended the cutting of century-old trees around Manila Zoo.
In its official statement, the DENR-NCR Office cited Presidential Decree No. 705, Presidential Decree No. 953, and other existing forestry and environmental regulations, which ‘allow the cutting or earthballing of trees when necessary for infrastructure projects, public works, and other development activities, provided that the required permits are secured and environmental safeguards are strictly observed.’
The cutting of the century-old trees earned criticism from netizens.
In its defense, the DENR-NCR said for every tree, thousands of trees will be planted in its place.
According to the DENR-NCR, the tree-cutting along the western portion of Quirino Avenue is for the construction of the Southern Access Link Expressway Project, which will connect the Skyway to Roxas Boulevard. The activity is covered by a duly issued permit (Permit No. 2026-02-24-TCEBP-1609) granted to the Southern Access Link Expressway Corporation.
To offset the trees that were cut, the project proponent is required to undertake large-scale replacement planting within the next planting season as a condition of the permit.
For this project, the permit requires that 50,700 replacement seedlings be planted within the City of Manila, in accordance with the Memorandum on Seedling Replacement Uniform Ratio; planting sites are to be identified in coordination with the local government to ensure local ecological benefit, the DENR-NCR said.
Moreover, the DENR-NCR said that ‘tree cutting’ is not automatically permitted. All applications undergo evaluation and are subject to compliance with environmental laws, technical assessment, coordination with concerned local government units, and the implementation of mitigation measures to address ecological impacts,’ it said.