Controversial Baguio tree parks

CITY HALL BEAT

Aileen P. Refuerzo

BAGUIO CITY – Two tree parks in this summer capital are now the objects of controversy owing to environmental concerns.

In Burnham Park, safety nets will be in place to ensure the protection of the trees and prevention of damage in the area surrounding the skating rink in the conduct of the Baguio Bloomexposition and exhibition from Feb. 1 to March 10.    

Mayor Mauricio Domogan said the Baguio Flower Festival Foundation Inc. (BFFFI) will impose rules and regulations to cover all stallholders that will participate in the exhibition designed to protect the trees and the environs and ensure the security and upkeep of the area for the whole duration.

“The protection of the trees and the beauty of the park is also our concern hence the trees are excluded where the stalls will stay.  Any act that destroys or damages the beauty of the park by all means are not allowed,” the mayor said.

He said security personnel and street sweepers and garbage collectors will be deployed in the area to ensure peace and order and cleanliness and proper waste disposal.

The BFFFI organizing committee co-chaired by councilor Elmer Datuin and Hotel and Restaurant Association of Baguio (HRAB) president Anthony De Leon said they also tapped the Dept. of Environment and Natural Resources Cordillera (DENR-CAR) to monitor the environmental condition and check on the compliance of the participants with the rules.

The mayor did not sign Resolution No. 19-19 of the city council which disapproved the conduct of the Baguio Blooms at the skating rink site saying it violates the Environment Code and the Trade Fair Ordinance of the city and will destroy the park.

In his veto message dated Jan. 28, he said it does not violate the Environment Code and cited section 14 of Ordinance No. 18-16 which allows the temporary closure of the protected landscapes for events conducted in relation to institutionalized activities organized or co-sponsored by the city government.

The mayor also called out the city council on an old measure Resolution No. 11-A series of 2014 which clarified the legislative intent of the trade fair quoting:

“On the conduct of the ‘Market Encounter’ and ‘Session Road in Bloom’ in Burnham Park and Session Road, respectively during the celebration of Panagbenga 2014, the same is not covered by the Trade Fair ordinance as it is the City Government conducting the same thru the BFFI by virtue of a duly approved City Council Resolution.” 

 On the share of the barangay or the Association of Barangay Council (ABC), the mayor said the traditional 20-stall allocation to the ABC will be retained with the proceeds of the 20 stalls out of 160 measuring 4x3 meters at the cost of P80,000 per stall will be given to the ABC.

In his message, the mayor appealed to the city council to reconsider their decision and instead support the conduct of the fair at the skating area.

“We had used the Skating Rink area for Baguio Bloom in the past and it was not damaged,” he said adding that no other alternative space can be located for the activity which had in the past been staged along Lake Drive and Juan Luna Drive at Burnham Park.

The mayor said the activity cannot be cancelled as it has been part of the attraction of the Panagbenga and will help sustain the budget which is being used to finance the subsidy being given to participating elementary and high schools and the prices of the winners in the grand street dance and floral parades.

For this year, the mayor said the BFFFI has increased the subsidy from P40,000 to P100,000 for the schools.

“We appeal therefore to this August Body not to object and instead support or approve the conduct of the Baguio Bloom at the skating area subject to rules and regulations,” the mayor said.

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Pupils of the Baguio Pines Family Learning Center stirred up déjà vu when they trooped to City Hall on Monday to convey their support to Mayor Mauricio Domogan’s bid to preserve the mini-pine tree forest within the Baguio Convention Center reservation.

Nineteen students representing the pre-school to Grade VI classes submitted to the mayor a total of 68 letters and illustrations they and their schoolmates made addressed to President Rodrigo Duterte containing their plea for the tree park.

Each letter asked the President’s intercession to prevent the sale for commercial purposes of the 33,606 square meter property of the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS).

A main petition signed by the school’s administration, faculty, staff and students asked the President to convince the GSIS to sell the property to the city of Baguio instead to maintain it as a forest.

The scene was reminiscent of the gesture done by students of the same school in 2012 when they wrote then President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to voice our their objection to Shoemart (SM) Development Corporation’s plan to build a condotel and commercial complex in the area.

School principal Leonila Bayla who along with 13 teachers accompanied the pupils to the mayor’s office said their students were well-aware of the impact of losing the green patch which is one of the few remaining pinestands in the city.

“We are very hopeful that that we can get the support of President Digong since he is very particularly about environmental preservation,” Bayla said.   

“We don’t have enough pine trees left and we want to protect what we have left to counter pollution and the effects of climate change.”

Mayor Domogan who promised to send the letters to the President said the appeal of the schoolchildren boosted the city’s bid to purchase the property to maintain it as a mini-forest.

“I hope that these letters will deliver the message of the people of Baguio to the GSIS that we are so concerned with preserving the said area with the end in view of convincing the GSIS administration to change its mind and agree to sell it to the city,” he said. 

The city offered to purchase the tree park on two occasions but the GSIS increased the asking price in as many times. 

When the city attempted another tender, the GSIS said it was no longer interested to sell.

“(I) ask for your help about the preservation and protection of the forest beside the Baguio Convention Center… in order for them not to make a building because there will no area anymore that will give us fresh air and when it will rain it might lead to landslide,” Grade V pupil Liezel Sarah Sebastian wrote.

“Help us stop the GSIS from selling our remaining forest because we don’t want any more trees to be cut down again and also because we want to preserve (it) for the next generation and if the trees would be cut down the nature would be destroyed again and the beauty of Baguio City would be destroyed as well,” Kate Ashlee Todyog, Grade VI penned.

“I trust you Mr. President to let GSIS sell the said area to our city government instead of (a private company).  Please entrust that small area to us – let us have it and we will surely save and take care of it,” Genesis Yvan Tudlong pleaded.