Thousands of trees all over the Philippines, many of them century-old, have been cut for road widening and infrastructure development projects of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH). Many more trees face the same fate. In several cases, road widening was deemed unnecessary.

We call on the DPWH and Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to stop all tree-cutting activities for road widening projects until a review of this policy is undertaken. This review should provide a mechanism for genuine public consultation and a detailed scientific assessment the cutting of trees may have on the environment, especially with climate change and harder-hitting climate-related natural disasters.