Apparently, Baguio Mayor Benjamin Magalong was also unaware of the cutting.

"We are saddened because we feel it is a big blow to our Re-greening Master Plan amid our request to the Office of the President for a tree-cutting moratorium," Magalong said in a statement.

"While the proposed moratorium has been taken over by this health crisis, we need to follow this up to ensure that our remaining trees will be preserved," Magalong said.

One of his campaign promises is a moratorium on the cutting of trees in the city.

He met with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) regional officials and Ferdinand Salcedo, representative of the Vista Residences Inc Thursday afternoon.

A special private land timber permit No. CAR-58-2020 was granted to VRI during the pandemic. It was signed by Jim Sampulina, DENR undersecretary for field operations and Muslim affairs.

#Baguio #treeCutting #DENR