In a petition on Change.org, tour guide and petitioner Balbino Guerrero said: “These trees were planted at the turn of the century, ordered by then Cebu Governor Dionesio Jakosalem.”
More than 1,400 have already signed the petition, which asked Environment Secretary Ramon Paje and Public Works Secretary Rogelio Singson to “to reconsider" the "permit to cut" issued by the DENR Central Office.
"We knock on your heart to give the condemned TREES, a new lease of life,” they said in the petition.
Petition signer Joseph Patrick Lim of Cebu City recalled his mother’s stories “about traversing this road during WWII and how the trees shaded them from the heat on their long journey fleeing from the advancing Japanese soldiers.”