City of diminishing Pines

LETTERS FROM THE AGNO
March L. Fianza

BAGUIO CITY -- Before another Pine Tree is felled, let me dedicate this part to the Igorot who has been libeled lately. I imagine the world rushing to greet everyone Keng Hei Fat Tsay. We are in the Year of the Metal Ox of 2021 which starts from February 12, the Chinese lunar New Year Day, and lasts until January 31st of next year. This year could be a blessing if it provides the protein the Ibaloy canyao lover needs at a time when pigs are out of stock.
    Since it is the Year of the Metal Ox, the lucky colors associated with it are metallic gray and aqua blue. Chinese astrologers say the color aqua blue is the kind that charges the I-samoki, I-besao and I-sagada with positive energy when they suffer from chronic stress and fatigue.
    Astrologers further say that Ox persons are naturally honest, have diligence, dependable, have strength and determination.     And since these are traditional characteristics, the women Ox are traditional and faithful Cordilleran wives who attach great importance to their children's education.
    For the male Ox, they have adopted the character of cows so that they are strongly patriotic, have great patience and a desire to make progress, and have ambitions for life that are attached to family and work, like the Kankanaey vegetable farmer of Northern Benguet.
    But before doing anything, Ox persons make sure they have detailed plans to which they apply their strong faith and physical strength like the Bontoc and Kiangan warriors. Like cows, persons born under the Ox zodiac sign enjoy satisfaction.
    The Ox however, is not always a successful animal as it shows weakness in communicating with others like the shy Ibaloy. It is stubborn and sticks to its own ways. That is why Ox people think that exchanging ideas is not worthwhile.
    And since they have lesser social dealings, they enjoy staying alone, munching hay in the field all they long. Male and female Ox however, are loyal to friends. That explains the sincerity and obedience of the animal to the cowhand.
    When it comes to love relationships, Ox people keep a long term contract with their lovers. Although as many as five female cows share or have sex with just one and the same bull. Happy Valentines. All five of them are sincere to him and changing him makes them uneasy. These are not Igorots this time. They are of a different religion down south.
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Trees are being killed in the name of development. Sometime in 2012, the DENR sued DPWH officials and a public works contractor for killing 32 Pine trees within the Camp John Hay forest reservation that stood in the way of a circumferential road widening project at Barangay Happy Hallow despite the absence of permits.
    Apparently, the DPWH ordered the contractor to fast-track the construction before the rainy season, but the work program to widen the road along Barangay Happy Hallow required removing 157 Pine trees.
    The DPWH and the contractor allegedly violated two counts of the Forestry Code of the Philippines or PD 705, as well as EO No. 23 that was issued in 2011 to enforce a moratorium on tree-cutting nationwide.
    Just last month, the DPWH geared up to cut at least 28 trees to make way for five road expansion projects to ease traffic flow, after it was granted permits by the city government.
    Fifteen of the trees are along Marcos Highway, four are along Kennon Road at Barangay Camp 7, while the rest are along Bonifacio Street and Fr. Carlu Loop by the road entrance of the Baguio Cathedral.
    Then two weeks ago, there was noise on social media about the plan to kill 36 mature trees, most of these Pine trees, beside the Mt. Peace Retreat House area to ease the traffic along Governor Pack Road.
    Father Jesse Hechanova immediately wrote Engr. Rene Zarate of the DPWH after his office started cutting trees, reminding him that Baguio’s “natural charm to local and international tourists as the Summer Capital of the Philippines is the presence of Pine trees.”
    That is why Baguio has been known as the “City of Pines”. But that was then. Now for the second time, I am calling Baguio the “City of diminishing Pines” because as Father Hechanova said in his letter, “we are saddened that the remaining green spaces are decreasing at an alarming rate.”
    As the noise became louder on social media, engineer Leandro de Jesus, CENRO of Baguio quickly clarified that the tree-cutting permit was issued upon completion of requirements, including the City Mayor’s clearance. His office also suspended the cutting of trees until further notice.
    True. If not for the public complaints and noise from netizens, infrastructure development such as housing subdivisions and road construction would surely be more rampant, never mind that trees are sacrificed.   
    Last year amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the DENR granted a special private land timber permit (SPLTP) to Vista Residences Inc. that allowed the cutting of 54 Benguet and Norfolk Pine trees inside its property at Barangay Outlook Drive in the city.
    The DENR said the developer of the Villar property was issued a permit because the company went through the tedious process of getting the environmental clearance certificate (ECC), mayor’s permit and barangay certificate.
    Still in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic, the DENR granted to the Philippine Military Academy a permit to cut 53 trees from a tree plantation raised by cadets so it could put up a parking building.
    City environment officer Rhenan Diwas said the city cannot protect Pine trees inside private properties unless it exercises its power of eminent domain to buy back these properties.
    While that may be true, it is far easier to stop issuing certificates and tree-cutting permits than buying back privately owned properties which could be comparable to buying a property on the moon.
    For Mayor Benjie Magalong, the present problem was tree-cutting activities during the pandemic which affected the plan to rejuvenate green areas that Baguio lost to urban development. The city’s forest cover has been reduced to about a quarter of Baguio’s 49 sq.km area.
    An accounting of assorted trees in the city that was ordered by the DENR Sec. Roy Cimatu in 2019 was estimated at 2.5 million, where less than 500,000 of these trees are Benguet Pine.
    All of these permits and cutting of trees outraged residents and netizens while others condemned the actions, saying the city neglected the environment in its push for infrastructure development.
    I read from the paper about a plan by the city to develop pocket parks and inner city roads to be lined with trees. In addition, City Environment Officer Diwas said that they would ask the DPWH to allow the city to replant trees along its streets as part of its reforestation plan.
    As far as I can recall, planting trees along highways has been done after the killer earthquake of 1990 that devastated all five major roads leading to Baguio, by incorporating tree-planting in all public works projects.
    That can be ordered again at this time of the pandemic. Still, the best solution to stopping the trees from diminishing and bring back the glory of the City of Pines is to totally stop the issuance of certifications and tree-cutting permits.