Rufus pushes bill protecting 200-year-old Dao tree in Oro

SECOND District Rep. Rufus Rodriguez pushed a bill seeking government protection for a 200-year-old dao tree measuring at least 49 meters or approximately the size of a 16-story building found in Cagayan de Oro City.

Earlier, even the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) is seeking the passage of a law that would protect centuries-old trees in the country.

House Bill No. 965, authored by Rodriguez seeks to recognize the 200-year-old Dao Tree (dracontomelon dao) in Barangay Cugman, in the said city as a Heritage Tree and a tourist attraction.

Rodriguez said the Dao Heritage Tree, found within a pocket secondary forest in the Integrated Forest Management Agreement (IFMA) area of the Vice President Emmanuel Pelaez Ranch in Bayombong, Barangay Cugman, is one of the biggest and oldest Dao trees in the Philippines.

The 200-yr old Dao, which takes about 30 persons with outstretched arms to surround the base of the tree, according to Rodriguez.

Under the proposed law, the Department of Tourism (DOT), in coordination with the Department of Natural Resources (DENR), the Cagayan de Oro City Cultural Heritage Conservation Council, the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA), as well as other concerned agencies, is responsible for the development of plans to promote, protect, and preserve the Dao Tree and its immediate environs.

He said the bill also urges the DOT to take immediate steps to implement measures for the construction and maintenance of infrastructure to enhance the area as one of the city’s tourist spots.

It can be remembered that during the 18th Congress, a similar bill was approved on the third and final reading by the House but the Senate failed to tackle the said measure.

Rodriguez also calls for the immediate passage of this bill in the present Congress and encourages all Kagay-anons and Misamisnons to visit the Dao Tree in Brgy. Cugman and “bask in the beauty of nature.”