In a significant win for local environmental advocates, the government has temporarily suspended the removal of hundreds of mature trees in Manila’s Ermita district. The project, a segment of the Southern Access Link Expressway (SALEX) led by the San Miguel Corporation, aims to ease traffic for up to 300,000 daily vehicles and improve connectivity to the upcoming Bulacan Airport. While proponents argue the massive infrastructure project is essential for economic growth and reducing gridlock, activists contend that sacrificing century-old trees during a period of record-breaking heat—where the heat index has soared near 50 degrees—is a reckless trade-off that prioritizes cars over human well-being.

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) previously justified the logging as an "inevitable" cost of progress, promising to plant 100 seedlings for every mature tree removed. However, this stance has triggered a fierce backlash, with groups like the Catholic Church and various environmental organizations labeling the clearing as "ecological violence." Bishop Gerardo Alminaza and others have emphasized that these trees provide vital shade, flood protection, and air purification for vulnerable residents. As protests continue, critics are calling for the project to be scrapped entirely, arguing that a temporary suspension is insufficient and that the government must account for the hundreds of trees already lost to a development strategy that exacerbates the urban climate crisis.