Friday, February 8, 2013
A tale of two lakes
The multi-million-peso project that was the dredging of Burnham Lake is done, all that’s needed now is more water to bring back the nature-initiated, man-made lake’s water level to its usual depth. It reminded me of a similar project we did with fellow artists in Manila long ago.
Actor Ronnie Lazaro gathered us in his studio in 1996 to discuss a project he dubbed “Bayang Ginigiliw” – the clean up of the relief Philippine map at the Rizal Park. There was no money involved, all we had was the permission of the local government to go ahead with it.
On the first day, there were tens of us – theater actors, visual artists, ballet dancers, videographers, photographers, filmmakers, etc. armed with nothing more than shovels, walis tingting and other improvised implements and the determination to clean up the submerged relief map. The area is a bit smaller than the Burnham Lake. We watched as the water slowly drained revealing the stories of people part of whose lives were reflected in, told to, depended on that lake.
As the last of the water was released, years of neglect became apparent. The silt was up to our knees, in some parts waist deep. What we thought was going to be a two-day project ended up being almost a week-long labor of love. We started digging in – picking up coins thrown by people who wished for a better life, and other objects of some value, necklaces, rings, earrings, a watch or two, wallets with washed out photographs, which we later donated to an orphanage. There were guns thrown into the lake by lawless elements being pursued by law enforcers, which we surrendered to the police.
In the days that followed, despite the noticeable decrease in the number of volunteers - by the third day there were only a less than ten os uf left, we toiled from sun up to sun down for days, prodded by the sight of the Philippine map becoming cleaner and cleaner. A lot of passersby, job seekers, stopped to ask how much were getting paid for the job, and were shocked upon learning that we were doing it for free.
We chipped in for food – one day I cooked a huge batch of pasta, another day we ate at some nearby karinderya, once we cooked with an improvised wooden stove right there in the water-less lake.
As the last dust-pan full of silt was swept away, we watched as the lake was slowly filled again with water which played the role of the Philippine seas that cradle this archipelago. It was a beautiful sight, it was a very beautiful feeling.
The dredging of Burnham Lake cost the people twenty million pesos.
Sunday, February 3, 2013
Then a man in a top hat comes
I agree with the message, but not with the delivery. I agree that the punishment of imprisonment is too harsh, but the deed must not go unpunished – in this case, the means just can’t justify whatever end was aimed for.
The issue: at an ecumenical service, some say it was a mass, at the Manila Cathedral last Sept. 30, 2010, Carlos Celdran entered the cathedral dressed in a suit and a top hat carrying a placard that simply said, “Damaso,” in reference to Jose Rizal's infamous character. He was protesting the Catholic Church’s stand against the RH Bill and the way it has been forwarding that stand. The bill has since been signed into law.
The church filed a case against Celdran, using a provision in the Revised Penal Code that deals with “offending religious feelings.” He was recently found guilty, and sentenced to a minimum of a couple of months to a maximum of a little over a year in jail, despite Celdran’s written apology to the Catholic Bishop’s Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) and their ensuing issuance of a pardon.
Citizens and netizens are divided – some say the sentence was way too harsh, others say Celdran deserved it. Some say Celdran shouldn’t be punished at all, others say otherwise. Some are calling for the abolition of the provision pertaining to “offending religious feelings,” some are threatening to use the same to sue the bishops for offending their religious feelings.
To me, it doesn’t matter whether there was an actual mass ongoing at the time, or “merely” an ecumenical service, as some of Celdran’s apologists said of that afternoon. The Manila Cathedral is still a place of worship – sacred to the church’s followers, as it should be even to non-Catholics, even non-Christians. A lot of the people lambasting the guilty verdict now are the same people who speak out for our right to freedom of information, freedom of choice, freedom of religion - and the right to practice that faith freely, without fear, without being mocked, molested, disrespected.
There are some in the Catholic hierarchy who have acted offensively, true. But that shouldn’t be justification enough for anyone to insult the whole church. It certainly isn’t reason enough to attack the whole religion. We cannot condemn Islam for Bin Laden’s actions, just as we cannot condemn all Germans for the holocaust perpetuated by Hitler and the Nazis, and for that matter, all Australians, or all actors?, all action stars?, for Mel Gibson’s drunken anti-Jewish rants.
It’s definitely not right to subject its followers, some of whom actually support what Celdran was advocating, to disrespect. Celdran’s action during a legitimate religious rite in a legitimate place of worship is offensive, no matter how noble his advocacy was, which I fully support, by the way.
Whatever your belief is, whether you believe at all or not, to others, their whole lives revolve around their faith. It is a matter of life and death, as history has shown us. How about those people in that church that afternoon who were there not to preach about the supposed evils of the RH bill but to commune with their God? Pray. Pray for salvation, a miracle, food on their table tomorrow, for a dying loved one to be saved, for their own lives to be saved. Then a man with a top hat disrupts that solemn, sacred moment because they happen to be in the same place with someone who has offended Carlos Celdran.
Free Carlos Celdran. Amend that vague provision on “offending religious feelings.” But let’s not tolerate nor glorify disrespect and arrogance, too.
The issue: at an ecumenical service, some say it was a mass, at the Manila Cathedral last Sept. 30, 2010, Carlos Celdran entered the cathedral dressed in a suit and a top hat carrying a placard that simply said, “Damaso,” in reference to Jose Rizal's infamous character. He was protesting the Catholic Church’s stand against the RH Bill and the way it has been forwarding that stand. The bill has since been signed into law.
The church filed a case against Celdran, using a provision in the Revised Penal Code that deals with “offending religious feelings.” He was recently found guilty, and sentenced to a minimum of a couple of months to a maximum of a little over a year in jail, despite Celdran’s written apology to the Catholic Bishop’s Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) and their ensuing issuance of a pardon.
Citizens and netizens are divided – some say the sentence was way too harsh, others say Celdran deserved it. Some say Celdran shouldn’t be punished at all, others say otherwise. Some are calling for the abolition of the provision pertaining to “offending religious feelings,” some are threatening to use the same to sue the bishops for offending their religious feelings.
To me, it doesn’t matter whether there was an actual mass ongoing at the time, or “merely” an ecumenical service, as some of Celdran’s apologists said of that afternoon. The Manila Cathedral is still a place of worship – sacred to the church’s followers, as it should be even to non-Catholics, even non-Christians. A lot of the people lambasting the guilty verdict now are the same people who speak out for our right to freedom of information, freedom of choice, freedom of religion - and the right to practice that faith freely, without fear, without being mocked, molested, disrespected.
There are some in the Catholic hierarchy who have acted offensively, true. But that shouldn’t be justification enough for anyone to insult the whole church. It certainly isn’t reason enough to attack the whole religion. We cannot condemn Islam for Bin Laden’s actions, just as we cannot condemn all Germans for the holocaust perpetuated by Hitler and the Nazis, and for that matter, all Australians, or all actors?, all action stars?, for Mel Gibson’s drunken anti-Jewish rants.
It’s definitely not right to subject its followers, some of whom actually support what Celdran was advocating, to disrespect. Celdran’s action during a legitimate religious rite in a legitimate place of worship is offensive, no matter how noble his advocacy was, which I fully support, by the way.
Whatever your belief is, whether you believe at all or not, to others, their whole lives revolve around their faith. It is a matter of life and death, as history has shown us. How about those people in that church that afternoon who were there not to preach about the supposed evils of the RH bill but to commune with their God? Pray. Pray for salvation, a miracle, food on their table tomorrow, for a dying loved one to be saved, for their own lives to be saved. Then a man with a top hat disrupts that solemn, sacred moment because they happen to be in the same place with someone who has offended Carlos Celdran.
Free Carlos Celdran. Amend that vague provision on “offending religious feelings.” But let’s not tolerate nor glorify disrespect and arrogance, too.
Friday, January 18, 2013
Remember Luneta Hill
My 14-year old son just finished reading A Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez yesterday, and it was the main topic of conversation during the drive from their school to our house. He had so many questions, and was particularly disturbed by the scene where the striking banana plantation workers, protesting unfair and inhumane working conditions, were all killed.
In that scene, one Jose Arcadio Segundo survived, and returned home to Macondo to tell the story.
The scene was based on a true story. In 1928, the Colombian government sent the army to Santa Marta to quell the ongoing strike against the American-owned United Fruit Company. The United States was said to have threatened to invade the South American country if the government did not protect the interests of the capitalist. The workers weren’t asking for heaven and earth, their demands were simple: written contracts for each of the workers, 8-hour working days, 6-day work weeks. After closing off access to the streets and surrounding the striking workers with machine guns, at the end of the day, fathers, mothers and children lay dead on the streets.
The government placed the death toll at a maximum of 47, another official even went as far as saying that there were only 9. But survivors of the massacre say there were at least 2,000 who were killed. They did not refer to them as workers, they were subversives, troublemakers.
In the Marquez novel, Jose Arcadio Segundo lived the rest of his life as a pariah, his voice and with it his story was discredited and drowned out by the lies of the powers-that-be. The story that the authorities forced on the people was that it never happened. And it rained in Macondo for five straight years erasing any memory of the dark, chilling episode.
A year ago, thousands marched down Session Road to express their opposition to the removal of 182 trees on Luneta Hill for a parking building. There must have been at least 5,000 people that day, but the powerful capitalists placed the number at merely hundreds, at most a thousand.
That’s what the headlines of the powerful and credible media said, so it must be true.
In court, during the hearing of the case that was filed against the proponents of the massacre of trees, their expensive lawyers in their expensive business suits and toting expensive leather bags with wheels, denied that there’s opposition to their expansion project from the community. They successfully prevented the presentation of proof belying their claim – videos and photos of the numerous rallies held against SM in Baguio and in different parts of the country. In the verdict handed down by the court dismissing the case, there was hardly any mention of the opposition, the tens of thousands of petition signatures, the numerous protest actions held, etc.
That’s what the honorable court said, so it must be so.
Today, the protesters are referred to by self-proclaimed pundits not as concerned citizens - they are called subversives, troublemakers, hippies and good-for-nothing gigolos.
But the Jose Arcadio Segundos of Baguio still stand, and they were there when 49 of the 182 trees were violently removed and condemned to die a slow painful death. They were there when SM tried to cover the truth with entertaining high-definition audio-visual presentations on LCD screens. They were there when the government said that the removal of those trees will not cause irreparable damage on the environment. And if it does, they were there too when the local government said that it cannot do anything about it. They were there every time the police lined up to protect the interests of the greedy capitalist with anti-riot shields, truncheons and guns from fathers, mothers, children who want nothing more than for the lives of the trees to be spared.
And we will continue to be there to tell the story of the massacre on Luneta Hill.
Sunday, January 6, 2013
Salamat. At minsan pa, salamat
It's been a particularly exhausting year, not that the previous ones have been much easier - the life of an artist is never easy. Most artists anyway. For the last two and a half decades, theater ate me up spending most months filled with late night rehearsals and early morning setups. But not last year. See, 2012 stood out above the rest for it has been a year of awakening for me and my family, and there are people to thank for that.
One Michael Bengwayan, whom I have never met nor even heard of before, brought to my attention the one thing that elbowed theater out for a good part of the year for the first time since I can remember. From him, I learned of SM City Baguio's plan to remove 182 trees on one side of a hill for a parking facility. This sparked an emotional response so strong it kept on burning a full year since and would set the stage for a life on the streets in a battle against men and women in business suits. There was no need to go into the details of the issue: the biggest commercial mall in Baguio owned by the richest family in the country wants to become even bigger at the expense of the environment and the welfare of a whole community. So on January 20, 2012, we shouted at the rally led by Bengwayan, "it's not what you'll build, it's what you'll kill!"
Thank you, Michael Bengwayan, for creating that spark.
The weeks that followed saw the whole family, and here by family I mean both immediate and extended for with members of the art group I founded, Open Space, have become an inseparable part of my life, setting up platforms, lights and sound equipment in various open spaces in Baguio to sing out the sentiments of a city. We would be seen carrying speakers and light stands and laying down cables at the Pine Trees of the World Park, at the Igorot Garden and Malcolm Square, all of us - men, women, children.
We were there the night we heard the felling of the first 49 trees, the painful sound of branches and tree trunks cracking. We cried together, held each other's hands, and strengthened each other's resolve not to let our guard down for we knew that what's at stake here isn't only the life of 182 of God creations, but the future of this beautiful city.
Thank you, co-actors, co-musicians, co-directors, co-writers, co-storytellers, kindred souls in Open Space, for sharing the passion to tell stories that must be told and to be more than just spectators in the brutal rape of this city.
My already extended family was extended much further, our circle of friends got much bigger. We sat with them at cafes, cramped apartments, park benches to exchange ideas about how to stop the monster that is corporate greed from forever defacing the beautiful face of our beloved city. There were the lawyers Christopher Donaal and Cheryl Yangot along with their equally dedicated colleagues; the indefatigable energies of the likes of Gideon Omero, Glo Abaeo, Marie Balangue, Andrea Cosalan and Sonn Fernandez and others more; the promises that the likes of one Calypso, this long-haired Richard, the gentle Anjoy, the fiery Ivy, and the passionate Jarlaw, among others; the guiding wisdom of and encouraging examples set by the likes of Rico and Sumitra Gutierrez, Guia Limpin, Mike Arvisu, Vangie Ram, Willy Alangui, Abbie Angonos, Ellen Lao, Nelson Alabanza, together with all the others who have come to be collectively known as Save 182.
Thank you, my family in Save 182, for making me a part of a noble struggle to defend all that is good about Baguio from the evils of corporate greed and a rotten political system.
And finally yet most importantly, I thank my wife whom I am very fortunate and very happy to live this life with, my children who I know now will be way better persons than I ever have been or ever wish to be, along with the rest whose same blood flows in my and my children's veins - all of whom define me as a human being.
As I venture to live my 40th year, I am grateful for all the new things I learned last year, the new connections made, the new way ways I now see the world around me, and I sincerely hope to make all you have given to and done for me worth your while.
So to all of you... salamat. At minsan pa, salamat.
One Michael Bengwayan, whom I have never met nor even heard of before, brought to my attention the one thing that elbowed theater out for a good part of the year for the first time since I can remember. From him, I learned of SM City Baguio's plan to remove 182 trees on one side of a hill for a parking facility. This sparked an emotional response so strong it kept on burning a full year since and would set the stage for a life on the streets in a battle against men and women in business suits. There was no need to go into the details of the issue: the biggest commercial mall in Baguio owned by the richest family in the country wants to become even bigger at the expense of the environment and the welfare of a whole community. So on January 20, 2012, we shouted at the rally led by Bengwayan, "it's not what you'll build, it's what you'll kill!"
Thank you, Michael Bengwayan, for creating that spark.
The weeks that followed saw the whole family, and here by family I mean both immediate and extended for with members of the art group I founded, Open Space, have become an inseparable part of my life, setting up platforms, lights and sound equipment in various open spaces in Baguio to sing out the sentiments of a city. We would be seen carrying speakers and light stands and laying down cables at the Pine Trees of the World Park, at the Igorot Garden and Malcolm Square, all of us - men, women, children.
We were there the night we heard the felling of the first 49 trees, the painful sound of branches and tree trunks cracking. We cried together, held each other's hands, and strengthened each other's resolve not to let our guard down for we knew that what's at stake here isn't only the life of 182 of God creations, but the future of this beautiful city.
Thank you, co-actors, co-musicians, co-directors, co-writers, co-storytellers, kindred souls in Open Space, for sharing the passion to tell stories that must be told and to be more than just spectators in the brutal rape of this city.
My already extended family was extended much further, our circle of friends got much bigger. We sat with them at cafes, cramped apartments, park benches to exchange ideas about how to stop the monster that is corporate greed from forever defacing the beautiful face of our beloved city. There were the lawyers Christopher Donaal and Cheryl Yangot along with their equally dedicated colleagues; the indefatigable energies of the likes of Gideon Omero, Glo Abaeo, Marie Balangue, Andrea Cosalan and Sonn Fernandez and others more; the promises that the likes of one Calypso, this long-haired Richard, the gentle Anjoy, the fiery Ivy, and the passionate Jarlaw, among others; the guiding wisdom of and encouraging examples set by the likes of Rico and Sumitra Gutierrez, Guia Limpin, Mike Arvisu, Vangie Ram, Willy Alangui, Abbie Angonos, Ellen Lao, Nelson Alabanza, together with all the others who have come to be collectively known as Save 182.
Thank you, my family in Save 182, for making me a part of a noble struggle to defend all that is good about Baguio from the evils of corporate greed and a rotten political system.
And finally yet most importantly, I thank my wife whom I am very fortunate and very happy to live this life with, my children who I know now will be way better persons than I ever have been or ever wish to be, along with the rest whose same blood flows in my and my children's veins - all of whom define me as a human being.
As I venture to live my 40th year, I am grateful for all the new things I learned last year, the new connections made, the new way ways I now see the world around me, and I sincerely hope to make all you have given to and done for me worth your while.
So to all of you... salamat. At minsan pa, salamat.
Monday, December 31, 2012
The end
We don't need the Mayan calendar to know that we are currently in transition, a rather radical one that our generation has never experienced before. We don't need media's over-dramatization of doomsday scenarios to know that we are entering the age of violent storms, more intense rainfall, prolonged droughts and more frequent earthquakes.
We have seen how powerless Japan, known to be among the most technologically advanced nations in the world, was against powerful waves. See how "Katrina" and "Sandy" brought entire states to their knees in America. Back here, the destruction that the twin typhoons "Ondoy" and "Pepeng" will linger in our memories for a long time when whole communities were almost completely wiped out in various areas of Benguet. A mountain of garbage came down and buried people and homes in Baguio.
Just before Christmas, "Pablo" claimed hundreds of lives down south.
The apocalypse is upon us, and not because the Mayans predicted it, but because we have stopped caring for our home for so long, and she's sick.
And for every death, home, livelihood destroyed, a dream shattered, apathy reared its ugly head. It hasn't happened to me, why should I care? That's the attitude of so many of us. And if we should care, when? Do we wait for an illegally-built 8-storey building to come crashing down on us before we uphold the law without fear nor favor? Do we wait to see a school under floodwater or at the receiving end of a landslide before we stand up to stop the removal of a whole forest on a hillside? Would more shopping arcades and a parking building be worth the risk?
Now is the time for all of us to do all we can to minimize our contribution to climate change and worsening the effects of natural calamities, and for all of us to protect, preserve and enhance our defenses against such. Do not for one moment believe that your individual actions do not matter in the bigger scheme of things for your every breath changes the composition of the whole universe.
Your carbon footprint matters, your attitude matters, your habits matter, your garbage output matters, your choices matter - not just to you but to the whole world. You matter and so does every member of your family, every person in your neighborhood - you form part of the half million residents of this city and the seven billion humans on this planet.
Care, and start caring now. Believe that your life depends on it because really, it does. You can either be one of the humans on this planet who caused the end of life, or one who made sure that your children and their children's children will continue to breath breathable air, climb towering trees, be surrounded by colorful flowers, drink unpolluted water, swim in rivers and oceans, see birds fly and fish swim... the one who recognized that the greatest gift of all can't be found inside concrete boxes nor your bank statement - it's all around you and it's called life.
Sunday, December 23, 2012
An Open Letter to President Benigno Aquino III
Dear Mr. President:
We, concerned citizens of the City of Baguio, along with the rest of the country and the world, are begging you, Mr. President, to stand up for our beloved city's environment, heritage, dignity and future by stopping the planned removal of trees on Luneta Hill by SM City Baguio to pave the way for their expansion plan involving a commercial building and a parking facility for the following reasons:
1. SM City Baguio is already the biggest commercial center in the city enjoying a lion's share of the market - this expansion plan is unjustified.
2. Their claim of soil erosion problems in the area will not be solved by removing the trees therein and building two huge concrete structures - common sense dictates that this will, in fact, raise the risk of landslides and flooding in lower lying areas due to increased water run-off.
3. The natural beauty of the City of Baguio, known all over the world as the City of Pines, has been deteriorating rapidly due to a misdirected sense of development. The removal of one of the few remaining forest covers in our city's central business district will further worsen the situation.
4. Our country has been hit by several natural calamities in the last couple of years that resulted in loss of lives and properties. In most cases, as in during the twin typhoons "Ondoy" and "Pepeng" and the more recent "Pablo," deforestation has been cited as among the culprits for the extreme destruction that was wreaked upon us. The removal of more than a hundred trees, in today's world plagued with extreme weather conditions due to climate change, on a hillside where schools are located directly below it places lives, particularly that of students, at risk.
5. The pine trees of Baguio are an invaluable part of its heritage - sacrificing more than a hundred of them to serve the interests of a single corporation is unjust.
6. We do not subscribe to the point of view that SM City Baguio can do as it pleases within their private property - the freedom and rights of one end where the freedom and rights of another begin. We, the people, have a right to a healthy and safe environment. Our constitution guarantees that.
Besides, to this day SM City Baguio have yet to acquire a valid title to the property and the Absolute Deed of Sale that bears your name does not bear your signature. Not to mention that the document was notarized not by government lawyers but by some obscure notary public in Manila. We believe that this is highly suspect that merits an investigation by your office/administration.
7. Our own mayor has turned his back on us, saying "I cannot do anything." Our own city council failed to address the issue. And recently, the court has ruled against us in the case we filed against SM, DENR and DPWH.
You are our only hope. Show us that "tuwid na daan" is more than just a slogan but a principled and determined stand against injustice and oppression for the welfare of the greater majority.
Sign our petition here: www.change.org/save182baguio
We, concerned citizens of the City of Baguio, along with the rest of the country and the world, are begging you, Mr. President, to stand up for our beloved city's environment, heritage, dignity and future by stopping the planned removal of trees on Luneta Hill by SM City Baguio to pave the way for their expansion plan involving a commercial building and a parking facility for the following reasons:
1. SM City Baguio is already the biggest commercial center in the city enjoying a lion's share of the market - this expansion plan is unjustified.
2. Their claim of soil erosion problems in the area will not be solved by removing the trees therein and building two huge concrete structures - common sense dictates that this will, in fact, raise the risk of landslides and flooding in lower lying areas due to increased water run-off.
3. The natural beauty of the City of Baguio, known all over the world as the City of Pines, has been deteriorating rapidly due to a misdirected sense of development. The removal of one of the few remaining forest covers in our city's central business district will further worsen the situation.
4. Our country has been hit by several natural calamities in the last couple of years that resulted in loss of lives and properties. In most cases, as in during the twin typhoons "Ondoy" and "Pepeng" and the more recent "Pablo," deforestation has been cited as among the culprits for the extreme destruction that was wreaked upon us. The removal of more than a hundred trees, in today's world plagued with extreme weather conditions due to climate change, on a hillside where schools are located directly below it places lives, particularly that of students, at risk.
5. The pine trees of Baguio are an invaluable part of its heritage - sacrificing more than a hundred of them to serve the interests of a single corporation is unjust.
6. We do not subscribe to the point of view that SM City Baguio can do as it pleases within their private property - the freedom and rights of one end where the freedom and rights of another begin. We, the people, have a right to a healthy and safe environment. Our constitution guarantees that.
Besides, to this day SM City Baguio have yet to acquire a valid title to the property and the Absolute Deed of Sale that bears your name does not bear your signature. Not to mention that the document was notarized not by government lawyers but by some obscure notary public in Manila. We believe that this is highly suspect that merits an investigation by your office/administration.
7. Our own mayor has turned his back on us, saying "I cannot do anything." Our own city council failed to address the issue. And recently, the court has ruled against us in the case we filed against SM, DENR and DPWH.
You are our only hope. Show us that "tuwid na daan" is more than just a slogan but a principled and determined stand against injustice and oppression for the welfare of the greater majority.
---------
Sign our petition here: www.change.org/save182baguio
Saturday, December 15, 2012
How SM lost the case
It is Christmas time, and what the people of Baguio received from Branch 5 of the Regional Trial Court was the dismissal of the case filed against SM along with DPWH and DENR. So this is probably what Antonio Estevez, the presiding judge meant when he declared in court one day that this case was important to him because he feels saddened by how much Baguio has changed for the worse in the last few years, and because he wanted to leave a lasting legacy to the people of Baguio.
And with the decision his court released on December 3, 2012, this is the legacy he left: set Baguio on a course towards urban decay, environmental destruction in the name of crass commercialism and an unsustainable future where trees are merely seen as obstacles to corporate greed.
And with the decision his court released on December 3, 2012, this is the legacy he left: set Baguio on a course towards urban decay, environmental destruction in the name of crass commercialism and an unsustainable future where trees are merely seen as obstacles to corporate greed.
And so, people ask:
Did SM win the case? The judge did dismiss the complaint. But wait, SM can’t bring out their infamous backhoes just yet – their tree-cutting permit has already expired. So the trees’ execution will be stayed just a little bit longer. And we do intend to exhaust all legal options available to us, the people, in preventing the death of those trees. We are prepared to bring this all the way to the Supreme Court, and continue to present our case in the court of public opinion both national and global.
Did SM win the case? Henry Sy’s minions are celebrating this legal victory that won them the right to kill trees and destroy God’s creation for money. Is that something to celebrate?
If they eventually do get their way and remove the rest of the 182 trees on Luneta Hill, greatly reducing the water retention capacity and soil stabilization capability of the area, will the purported economic benefits of the expansion project be worth the risking of lives and properties when schools and other buildings directly below the expansion site now become the receiving end of excessive water run-off specially from typhoon and monsoon rains and potential landslides? Can you really consider that a victory?
And would you be able to live with yourself, if you were one who directly benefited from your participation in SM’s efforts to hide all of these immediate adverse effects on the city’s environment and potentially devastating consequences on the city’s residents? Would it be worth the gift certificates, nifty gadgets, fat checks in professional fees and other “representation expenses” in exchange for your praises for and defense of the injustice that is this unjustified concrete commercial and parking building? Would it be worth your honor, integrity and conscience?
We have managed to stand our ground for almost one year opposing SM’s insatiable hunger for money. Judge Estevez may have dismissed the case against SM, but in the meantime the remaining trees on Luneta Hill will remain standing, living, nurturing and protecting lives and the people of Baguio, in fact the whole country, nay, the whole world know of ordinary citizens’ valiant efforts to save God’s creation from man’s greed.
And that is how SM lost their case.
Did SM win the case? The judge did dismiss the complaint. But wait, SM can’t bring out their infamous backhoes just yet – their tree-cutting permit has already expired. So the trees’ execution will be stayed just a little bit longer. And we do intend to exhaust all legal options available to us, the people, in preventing the death of those trees. We are prepared to bring this all the way to the Supreme Court, and continue to present our case in the court of public opinion both national and global.
Did SM win the case? Henry Sy’s minions are celebrating this legal victory that won them the right to kill trees and destroy God’s creation for money. Is that something to celebrate?
If they eventually do get their way and remove the rest of the 182 trees on Luneta Hill, greatly reducing the water retention capacity and soil stabilization capability of the area, will the purported economic benefits of the expansion project be worth the risking of lives and properties when schools and other buildings directly below the expansion site now become the receiving end of excessive water run-off specially from typhoon and monsoon rains and potential landslides? Can you really consider that a victory?
And would you be able to live with yourself, if you were one who directly benefited from your participation in SM’s efforts to hide all of these immediate adverse effects on the city’s environment and potentially devastating consequences on the city’s residents? Would it be worth the gift certificates, nifty gadgets, fat checks in professional fees and other “representation expenses” in exchange for your praises for and defense of the injustice that is this unjustified concrete commercial and parking building? Would it be worth your honor, integrity and conscience?
We have managed to stand our ground for almost one year opposing SM’s insatiable hunger for money. Judge Estevez may have dismissed the case against SM, but in the meantime the remaining trees on Luneta Hill will remain standing, living, nurturing and protecting lives and the people of Baguio, in fact the whole country, nay, the whole world know of ordinary citizens’ valiant efforts to save God’s creation from man’s greed.
And that is how SM lost their case.
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