‘Utak cemento’ vs green development

LETTERS FROM THE AGNO
March L. Fianza

BAGUIO CITY -- I haven’t come across any result on the consultation conducted many months before the last election in 2010 by then Senator Rodolfo Biazon as to whether Baguio is in a state of urban decay or not.

But as far as I am concerned, my verdict is a big “yes,” the city is entering a stage of urban decay. Proof of it were the massive Irisan trash slide on August 27 last year; the uncollected basura that continues to pile up everywhere; illegal shanties as small as a 2-meter by 2-meter house and structures as big as the one on top of Luneta Hill that are being built on lands with questionable titles; an unresolved traffic disorder that has been messed up all the more by never-ending traffic “experiments” that favor a mall on a hill; lack of water supply and the pollution contributed by these things put together.

We are about to stop living in a clean, green and fresh environment. If we recall, the City of Pines was a Hall of Famer in the Clean and Green competition in the country for having won the award several times. Recently, our elders in City Hall along with “environmentalists” in the council gave that up when their choices changed.

They now support the construction of cement structures and no longer fight for the existence of the small green forest where these concrete edifices were proposed to be built. They are even proud to say that while they are public officials, they cannot do anything to stop the cutting of trees in questionable private lands. In other words, they have given up on the city’s fight for a clean and green environment. We cannot blame them because construction is where the money is. Money does not always grow on trees, and trees cannot vote.

Their understanding of “development” is equated with high-rise buildings and flyovers – wishing that Baguio will look like a concrete jungle in the very near future, similar to any decaying city in Metro Manila or New York. Environmental activists describe them as “utak cement.”

By the way, I heard someone say that Burnham Lake was the only spot in the city that has not been cemented. “Utak cemento” public officials cement foot trails and pathways so that Mother Earth no longer comes in contact with the skin of their feet. I just hope that one morning when our children’s children wake up, they will not ask where they can play after finding Melvin Jones already paved with cement. I am confused if once in public office, a person becomes mindless because they construct cement barriers between the city’s road lanes so that they have good reason to build overpasses made of concrete and steel, and never mind if the ailing senior citizen cannot go up on it with ease. Anyway, these type of politicians view the senior citizen as unimportant.

The situation in Benguet is entirely different. Recently, I had a short chat with La Trinidad Mayor Greg Abalos Jr. In that quick conversation I felt that he was concerned and quite disturbed about the persistence of proponents to push their mall project at the Halsema-Pico junction.

At the same time, I saw firmness in his few words. He said, “as long as he is mayor, there is no way that the mall will be constructed on that spot.” In Itogon, friends and relatives say that concerned Ampucao residents are up against a proposed garbage dumpsite in the area that is perceived to be more beneficial to Baguio if it pushes through. Recently too, Benguet Governor Nestor Fongwan strongly urged the DENR to investigate and punish those responsible for killing more than a thousand Pine trees on the Southwestern slope of Mt. Santo Tomas. This, as Congressman Ronald Cosalan urged barangay captains in Benguet to apportion areas that can be developed as tree nurseries and for the propagation of bamboos.

What we are saying is that while public officials in Benguet and other parts of the country are opposed to the “utakcemento” kind of development and are moving heaven and earth to save their public parks, mountains and what remains of their green environment, officials in the “once upon a time” City of Pines are doing the opposite. The choice is now up to us. Do we want to sacrifice our green environment in favor of concrete buildings? Sacrifice a little of your time. Please come to the public hearing tomorrow, 1PM at the city council and express your opposition to the killing of close to 200 trees to give way to the expansion of SM Baguio. – marchfianza777@yahoo.com