As for the coconut tree, YES, a permit is NEEDED because the coconut is considered the life of the farmer. You cut it down, you are cutting down the farmer’s source of income. Aside from getting a permit, if the trees were planted or cared for by the tenant, you also have to pay the tenant an amount equivalent to the income that the trees would have earned for the tenant during the tree’s lifetime- and that would include income from coconuts, leaves, tuba, etc.

Cutting down bananas does not require a permit a nd is actually recommended to assure that a healthy batch of trees will grow from the parent stock. However, if the bananas were planted by tenants on YOUR property, in effect, they own the banana trees and if you want to cut them down, you have to recompense the tenant for the income lost as result. That would constitute about 5 years worth of bananas because parent stocks are often changed every 5-7 years.

About trimming naman, pag-sarili mo at nasa property na kinatatayuan ng bahay mo, hindi na rin kailangan, especially for safety reason.

And while we are on the subject. I wonder if you need a DENR permit to cut down a stand of bamboo “trees”… because technically, bamboo is a grass, not a tree. Or what about cutting down banana trees? They are technically herbs, not trees… :)

He added that it is hard to discreetly cut a hardwood, kasi sa ingay pa lang ng chainsaw mo, nariyan na yung mga “agents” hahanapan ka ng permit agad. Pag-nakitaan ka rin na nag-ta-transport ng kahoy from the barrio to the town proper, pinatitigil ka sa highway and again they check your permit.

My cousin was not sure kung alam daw nitong mga checker kung tama or valid yung papers na hawak mo, eh kung ipeke-daw kaya?

Continuing from previous message. Also sometimes doing the right thing isn’t always easy. From experience in Philippines , any government-related paper work takes a long time, lots of run arounds, money and waiting time. At the end maybe just maybe they will give you the “go” to watever it is you’re asking for such as permits. It puts people off most of the time. Sorry sounds harsh but it’s true.

I’m quite surprised about the law in Philippines about chopping down trees. Ive never heard of it before. My guess is, it’s always been there but not really put in practice and advertise well enough maybe??