BENCHWARMER

Saving, embracing a patch of pine
RAMON DACAWI

Now that Shoemart has confirmed before the city council its plan to build a condotel on that patch of pine beside the Baguio Convention Center, the local legislature can make its move. It can exercise the state’s power of eminent domain and expropriate the property and secure its integrity and future as a mini-forest within the urban center.

The city can take the cue from The Nature Conservancy, one of the world’s most prestigious environmental organizations. Since 1955, The Conservancy has been buying and preserving pieces of land and water all over for the sake of plant and animal diversity. Theyinclude humans, in our case the residents and visitors who both now pine for the vanishing scent of pine.

The news said the condotel would be called Baguio Air Residences. It would be an irony of a name if the tree patch, which contributes to cleaner, cooler air for residents (and visitors), would be destroyed.

The news said SM would cut only 313 of the over 900 green and brown sentinels for Baguio’s environment. It would transfer some and spare the rest, in consultation with its consultancy agency based in Manila.

Having been with pine trees for years now, I know it’s one of the most sensitive species around. It can be balled when it’s a sapling or a pole, but not when it’s over 30 years old, like those in the man-made patch, which were balled and planted as a backdrop to the 1978 World Chess Championship.

Take the case of Camp John Hay. When earth-moving was done to level sites for residential houses, the trunk base of some mature pines were covered by soil and they eventually died.

Now that we’re at it, the city council can also expropriate other privately owned pine stands and open spaces and save them from the urban sprawl of subdivisions and commercial structures. It can decide to buy the decrepit, abandoned building at the corner of Session Rd. and Lower Mabini St. and have it knocked down for a refreshing open space along the city’s main street.

With that, you can have a breathing space within the busy city commercialcenter that provides a view of the Burnham Park.. Those who love Baguio - and almost anybody whoever stepped into this mountain resort claims that sentiment – can start writing SM and the Government Service Insurance System (which owns or owned the patch), asking them to spare that mini-forest.

The argument for this plea is borrowed from the GSIS, when it decided, in 2002, to buy “Parisian Life”, one of the paintings of Filipino artist and patriot Juan Luna, for about P46 million, in an auction by Christie’s in Hongkong.

Criticized for such purchase, the GSIS leadership said it does not only insure government workers and government property. It also insures national heritage, and the painting is part of national heritage.

In the same token, Baguio is national heritage. This is also National Heritage Month and GSIS does help insure national heritage. Unlike when it bought the painting, GSIS need not shell out a single centavo to save that pine patch. I’m certain GSIS members would embrace such move and end up showing their children and grand-children the trees they helped save wheneverthey’re up here.

The image I see is of their children and grand-children embracing those pines, for the trees would then symbolize their families’ contributions to and being a part of Baguio. The patch can be GSIS’ fitting gift to Baguio on the Centennial next year of the country’s Summer Capitaland despite the dwindling forests -- its only City of Pines.

That’s why delegates to the 7th Igorot International Consultation last month adopted a resolution asking GSIS and SM to forego their deal towards wreaking havoc on the pine patch. Mostly expatriates from Baguio and the Cordillera, they believe saving the forest would mean saving part of Baguio’s past and future. (email:racawi@yahoo.com for comments.)