Landmark tree along Bukidnon highway uprooted amid heavy rains

MALAYBALAY CITY, Bukidnon — A landmark tree that produced vibrant yellow blooms along the national highway each summer was uprooted Monday afternoon after heavy rains and strong winds from localized thunderstorms battered the city.

Personnel from the Malaybalay City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CDRRMO) responded to a distress call at around 2:55 p.m. about the fallen tree.

The golden trumpet tree (Handroanthus chrysanthus) stood near Bukidnon National High School, the city’s largest public secondary school.

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Responders used chainsaws to clear the fallen branches and trunk, causing temporary traffic congestion along the busy thoroughfare.

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No injuries were reported.

The CDRRMO said Malaybalay had been experiencing moderate to heavy rainfall over the past few weeks due to the intertropical convergence zone, compounded by a localized thunderstorm Monday that left the surrounding soil heavily saturated.

The iconic tree had stood along the highway for nearly two decades.

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Julius Parian, a forester with the Valencia City Environment and Natural Resources Office, told the Inquirer that the golden trumpet tree was planted around 2007 under the “Green Philippine Highway” program launched by the late Environment Secretary Angelo Reyes.

Parian explained that the introduced tree species, which is native to Brazil and sheds its foliage before blooming in late spring, is a softwood tree with a relatively short lifespan.

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The tree is susceptible to uprooting when the soil becomes overly saturated, he added. /das