Cruz right on Quezon Memorial Circle

Neal Cruz’s June 20 and 25 columns on the Quezon Memorial Circle are streaks of light brightening the skies over the grand monument of Manuel L. Quezon and across the city named after the great president.

Cruz’s advocacy to enhance our vanishing natural scenery is not only commendable but also a moral duty we owe to our country. Allow me to add my ten cents’ worth of insight on the matter.

Isn’t this “park” primarily built to honor the memory of the great Manuel L. Quezon, first president of the Commonwealth of the Philippines? So the park must be truly and aesthetically lush with natural woods, plants, trees, grass and flowers—not “structures” that distract attention from the monument.

In his letter to the editor, Gregorio T. Bañacia, head of the Quezon City government’s Public Affairs and Information Service writes: “It will also have a bookstore and a library—to make a green center for book lovers, students and teachers” (Inquirer, 6/26/12). This must be a big joke!

We don’t want our taxes to go into such projects. And a bookstore is simply a scheme whose aim is no other than profit, as in the case of the other buildings built inside the park. Quezon City is rich enough to find a place for a library building outside the park. Besides, people go there to breathe fresh air, gaze at the surrounding beauty of Mother Nature, and even to pray or meditate.

Sad to say, the present city administration’s concept of “development” is limited only to buildings, restaurants and the like. Yet, the Quezon Memorial Circle is supposed to be a public place, a memorial in honor of a great Filipino, offering an atmosphere of rest and quiet, a place to connect and reconnect with Mother Nature in the midst of noise and pollution. Even the Central Park in New York City follows this vision for the benefit of city dwellers.

What the city government has done to this park is destroy the natural beauty of the place. There are moments when we want to experience the wonder of life in the simplest things, and where else to feel it best but when we are surrounded by nature? By recognizing the awesome potential of what nature can give, we increase our appetite for life.

The Quezon City administration should be reminded that it has violated a sacred ground—and the memory of a great Filipino.

—EFREN C. JIMENEZ, OFM,

Justice, Peace and Integrity

of Creation Office,

69 San Pedro Bautista St.,

San Francisco Del Monte,

Quezon City