Pine trees versus parking lot

We visited Baguio City because of an activity we had organized, “A Dog Walk for Peace” last March 4. During our short stay we got to know the hot issue in Baguio: the 182 trees set for removal or balling at Luneta Hill to make way for the construction of an SM parking lot.

There is a grass-roots movement of Baguio City residents opposing the removal of the 182 trees. They refer to themselves as Save 182. We met them everywhere—as we walked down  Session Road, in Oh My Gulay restaurant, among the staff in Baguio Country Club, and among the many dog lovers who joined the “Dog Walk” event in Sunshine Park. We saw and met many residents joining the movement, using personal time and resources to collect signatures, and wearing green ribbons to show their opposition.

I am not from Baguio. I am a lowlander and from what I have seen, the councilors and mayor of Baguio City should take heed of what their local electorate is saying. There is a legitimate concern from its residents to stop the uprooting and “balling” of the pine trees to give way to a parking lot.

For me as a city lowlander residing in Pasig, when I think of Baguio, I imagine cool weather, clean air, pine trees, lots of open spaces. This is the allure that Baguio has for me. In the past many years, due to commercialization and congestion, Baguio is losing its appeal to me and my friends as a summer vacation capital. The idea of another SM mall up there among the pines has not added to its summer appeal. I just think of more congestion and traffic with SM up there. Why would I drive six hours and plan a vacation in Baguio just to experience the same thing that I have here where I live? Let me put it another way: Baguio City was the “Summer Capital,” the place people from Manila used to go to when the hot weather set in. We would go there not for a parking lot or for another mall.

The city government of Baguio should have a clear vision where it wants to lead the city, and its officials should listen to its residents. It’s more than an issue of 182 trees. It’s the whole vision of Baguio City—unpolluted air, ample and clean water supply, lots of walking paths, open spaces, pine trees, cultural interchange, development of local crafts. I don’t think Baguio should go the way of other cities. That way is going to bring Baguio to a dead end. Precisely, Baguio’s appeal is that it is not like the cities we come from.

Baguio should stop cutting down its pine trees. It will not only lead to ecological disasters, like landslides, it will also be an eco-tourism suicide. The 182 pine trees signify the spirit of Baguio City. The pine tree is an icon of Baguio. Pine trees are what make Baguio City the “City of Pines.”

—WILLA ISABELLA TECSON,

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