Section 5Sec./Art. 5

Permit to Cut. - No coconut tree or trees shall be cut unless a permit therefore, upon due application being made, has been issued by the PCA pursuant to Section 6 of this Act.

The applicant shall pay an application fee in the amount of Twenty-five pesos (P25) for every tree intended to be cut payable to the PCA. Ten pesos (P10) of the fee shall accrue in favor of the PCA, Ten pesos (P10) in favor of the municipal government concerned, and Five pesos (P5) in favor of the barangay unit concerned. The fees shall be used for the PCA's replanting program and for the repair and rehabilitation of roads of the respective local government units which have been damaged by the continuous passage of heavy vehicles used for transporting coconut lumber.

No permit to cut shall be granted unless the applicant, in coordination with the PCA and the local government unit concerned, has already planted the equivalent number of coconut trees applied for to be cut.

Such re-plantings, however, shall not apply to areas converted into industrial, commercial or residential sites or land transformed in accordance with law, into other agricultural purposes.

The PCA, in coordination with the local government unit concerned, shall regulate and oversee the planting, fertilization and care of the newly planted coconut trees. For this purpose, it shall be incumbent upon the PCA to conduct, from time to time, on-the-spot inspections of the sites where the coconut trees have been planted.