• CHERYL G. CRUZ
The clearing of the site where the P515 million, four-storey legislative building of the Bacolod City government will rise, is underway, with about 19 trees set to be cut or uprooted.
The city said Jan. 9 that the project site at the back of the Bacolod Government Center “is currently being cleared with footing excavation underway…and (construction) completion is expected 18 months from the groundbreaking” Dec. 4.
Engr. Loben Rafael Ceballos, OIC city engineer, earlier requested the Sangguniang Panlungsod for the passage of a resolution allowing the cutting and uprooting of trees in the area.
“Only two species of trees will be affected, African tulip (17), and Indian mango (2), or as determined by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources,” Ceballos said in his letter to the SP dated Dec. 22.
He told the Negros NOW Daily Jan. 8 that the SP already approved his request.
Councilor Claudio Jesus Puentevella, chairperson of the SP Committee on Environment and Ecology, indorsed Dec. 27 Ceballos’ request for a Resolution of No Objection from the SP “to cut 17 African tulip trees and two mango trees…for the construction of the legislative building” and granted favorable endorsement in securing an Environmental Clearance Certificate from the DENR and other concerned agencies.
The Villamonte Barangay Council, led by Punong Barangay Rommel Flores, also passed a resolution “interposing no objection to cut” these 19 trees.
There are a total of 45 trees of varied species and sizes within the project site, as per the inventory report of forest technician II Hadji Piansay of the Community Environment and Natural Resources Office.
At the groundbreaking ceremony for the legislative building, Ceballos said the edifice has a green design that incorporates sustainability and minimizes effects on the environment. It has provisions for solar panels, a rainwater collection system, and a sewage treatment plant.
The Design and Build project will be constructed by Legacy Construction Corporation/M.K.U. Construction and Supply. The legislative building is among the priority projects of the Benitez administration, with the budget sourced from the P4.4-billion loan of the city with the Development Bank of the Philippines. | CGC
