WHERE HAVE ALL THE PINE TREES GONE?
Filipinos arise! Rekindle pride in our Highlands and its treasures!
Bring back Igorot pride to our treasured Benguet mountains.
Bring back national pride to the cherished city of Baguio!
Restore the proud, stately mountain pines and their aroma to what is now the ugly, scarred terrain of these once-beautiful mountains, to the hills and surroundings of the so-called “Eternal Spring City” of our nation.
Spring City, really? Where? When?
Indeed, no longer can we smell and breathe in the erstwhile invigorating pine-scented mountain spring air of Baguio, save perhaps within the few remaining enclaves the U.S. Forces had zealously protected until they turned over their bases to our national and local governments; pristine enclaves that evidently had subsequently fallen to corruption, abuse, and the personal gain of the new stewards.
Even more sadly, such abuse and neglect prejudices their own children’s enjoyment, who will most likely behold instead the hideous, angular structures, the concrete facades, the slums, garbage, squalor and denudation; who will most likely gag instead at the stench of dank, polluted air no different from the smog of the lowlands.
The well-being, it seems, of future Igorots, Kankaneys, Benguet citizens and Cordillera folk—nay, entire Filipino generations – is forfeit. Unless…
Unless we act, and act soon enough.
Unless the pine trees are replanted.
Unless Baguio’s forests are replenished.
Unless the mountains are rejuvenated.
Where have all the tree lovers, and all Baguio lovers, gone?
Could not every man, woman, child, highlander, make it their duty to plant those precious pine trees in their own yards till there’s no more room?
Could not every homeowner / resident plant trees beside his home, townhouse, “barong-barong”, or condominium?
Could not every business owner dig out a small patch of pavement and plant a tree on the frontage of his establishment?
Could not citizens / residents nurture and steward young trees – even those planted “publicly”-- well into full bloom and maturity?
Could not vacationers, visitors, tourists be asked to contribute to a reforestation fund by way of fees or surcharges? Or have them plant trees themselves should they want to?
Could not the old, surviving stately pines be catalogued, inventoried, and preserved jointly by government and private groups?
Could not city government offer incentives –say, rebates from taxes & fees on realty, business, etc.—to everyone who plants and stewards?
Could we all not appreciate that these same trees will save us from pollution and erosion, both current and future?
Could we all not agree that these trees will save the city, the mountains, and even the region from blight and destruction?
Certainly the city and the mountain environments -- let’s all start with the pine trees, for heaven’s sake – are worth investing in, saving, and keeping, because they do contribute to the quality of life of every Igorot, ethnic, resident, visitor, all Filipinos alike, present and future.
Our cherished Baguio City and the entire Cordilleras indeed, are NATIONAL and NATURAL TREASURES worth rejuvenating not with pavement facelift, but rather with the verdant cover of living, breathing pine trees!
Oh, please let’s bring back those pine forests to our hallowed mountains!
God bless us all.
Bring back Igorot pride to our treasured Benguet mountains.
Bring back national pride to the cherished city of Baguio!
Restore the proud, stately mountain pines and their aroma to what is now the ugly, scarred terrain of these once-beautiful mountains, to the hills and surroundings of the so-called “Eternal Spring City” of our nation.
Spring City, really? Where? When?
Indeed, no longer can we smell and breathe in the erstwhile invigorating pine-scented mountain spring air of Baguio, save perhaps within the few remaining enclaves the U.S. Forces had zealously protected until they turned over their bases to our national and local governments; pristine enclaves that evidently had subsequently fallen to corruption, abuse, and the personal gain of the new stewards.
Even more sadly, such abuse and neglect prejudices their own children’s enjoyment, who will most likely behold instead the hideous, angular structures, the concrete facades, the slums, garbage, squalor and denudation; who will most likely gag instead at the stench of dank, polluted air no different from the smog of the lowlands.
The well-being, it seems, of future Igorots, Kankaneys, Benguet citizens and Cordillera folk—nay, entire Filipino generations – is forfeit. Unless…
Unless we act, and act soon enough.
Unless the pine trees are replanted.
Unless Baguio’s forests are replenished.
Unless the mountains are rejuvenated.
Where have all the tree lovers, and all Baguio lovers, gone?
Could not every man, woman, child, highlander, make it their duty to plant those precious pine trees in their own yards till there’s no more room?
Could not every homeowner / resident plant trees beside his home, townhouse, “barong-barong”, or condominium?
Could not every business owner dig out a small patch of pavement and plant a tree on the frontage of his establishment?
Could not citizens / residents nurture and steward young trees – even those planted “publicly”-- well into full bloom and maturity?
Could not vacationers, visitors, tourists be asked to contribute to a reforestation fund by way of fees or surcharges? Or have them plant trees themselves should they want to?
Could not the old, surviving stately pines be catalogued, inventoried, and preserved jointly by government and private groups?
Could not city government offer incentives –say, rebates from taxes & fees on realty, business, etc.—to everyone who plants and stewards?
Could we all not appreciate that these same trees will save us from pollution and erosion, both current and future?
Could we all not agree that these trees will save the city, the mountains, and even the region from blight and destruction?
Certainly the city and the mountain environments -- let’s all start with the pine trees, for heaven’s sake – are worth investing in, saving, and keeping, because they do contribute to the quality of life of every Igorot, ethnic, resident, visitor, all Filipinos alike, present and future.
Our cherished Baguio City and the entire Cordilleras indeed, are NATIONAL and NATURAL TREASURES worth rejuvenating not with pavement facelift, but rather with the verdant cover of living, breathing pine trees!
Oh, please let’s bring back those pine forests to our hallowed mountains!
God bless us all.
Labels: Baguio, pine trees
posted by Mary Ann Regala Raya at 8:01 PM
2 Comments:
I really like when people are expressing their opinion and thought. So I like the way you are writing
My Webshots friend, Ron Boise, emailed me on how to plant pine trees along a city sidewalk. Here's his comment: "Now, to your question about trees along a road. Most cities and most probably Baguio City, the engineers dig the hole first and insert a large diameter cement pipe way bigger than the tree and its roots. The bottom of the pipe should be lower than the bottom of where the road or base starts, so when the trees roots start to grow out and about, they'd be way under the road. When the tree gets too big for the pipe and I've seen some pipes that are 24" to 36" or more in diameter, they would cut the tree down, dig out the roots and the dirt and replant another young tree, etc.
Most main streets start out with sand or dirt. A thick covering of a felt pad is laid over the base dirt to keep the weeds from growing up through everything else. Gravel of the 6" minus (rocks that average 6" wide or thick) are what is first laid down here in the States', then a 2" minus, then the macadum (oil and rock) itself is probably 6" thick on top of everything else. So, the road base is probably at least 10" thick by the time you drive over it. When an old road is replaced, a couple of inches is taken off, the new added and replaced again when needed. I hope this helps define what you're asking."
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