Activists force halt to Manila tree-cutting for superhighway amid summer heatwave

A new elevated superhighway is to be built in Manila’s old district of Ermita, and 200 old trees have been cut in preparation for its construction. Thanks to Filipino environmental activists who stood their ground, the government suspended the removal of the remaining 600 or more decades-old trees.

- Raymund Villanueva

The activists underscored that, with the daytime heat index nearing 50 degrees, the sweltering Philippine capital needs more trees than roads. Private developers and the government, however, contend that the new infrastructure would ease traffic on Manila’s notoriously gridlocked roads.

The road being built will connect old Manila to access points leading out of the metropolis. The Southern Access Link Expressway (SALEX) is a 40.65km network proposed by the country’s busiest road builder, San Miguel Corporation (SMC), to link Roxas Boulevard and Road-10 with the proposed Shoreline Expressway, another planned highway. The proponents describe the project as designed to accommodate up to 300,000 vehicles daily, mirroring that of the capacity of SMC’s Skyway that earns about P65 million (Dh3.87 million) in daily toll revenues.

The company said the project’s goal is to ease future traffic in Metro Manila and Central Luzon, boost economic development in the region, and give motorists direct access to the New Manila International Airport, known as the Bulacan Airport, which is currently under construction.