Environment, Development, ME

Images of Old Baguio

Image of Baguio Now

Image of the trees of SM Baguio

According to history, the Philippines is a vast tropical land with more or less 30 million hectares of forests. During the Spanish era it decreases to 27 million hectares. In 1987 the classified forested area according to DENR is around 15 million hectares, the sad news is we now have 7 million hectares of forested lands and the rest are deforested. Last Panagbenga season, I wrote an article entitled ‘A Brief Review of Baguio City’, on which I mentioned most of its good aspects, scenic views and fancy places. This year because of the arising issues of Baguio which includes the earth balling of some 182 pine trees for commercial purposes, I decided to make a thorough yet concise review of how we Filipinos handle the issues of the environment.

According to United Nation’s push on economic growth and environmental protection, a country’s growth should neither focus on environmental nor economic growth alone. It always should be balance. However, when it terms of growth either of the two will always be compromised. People suddenly had this urge of protecting the environment, but is it too late for everyone to realize that we have consumed what would have been enough for consumption? Or haven’t we realized that we’ve developed too much that the untouched lands are the only ones left undeveloped?

The issue of environment boils down to poverty, there may be people’s controlling the upscale and unending torture to our remaining forests, but haven’t we thought about solutions on how to stop them? We may have passed tons of laws but as long as the upland people see the environment as means of medicine for their sick children, food for their empty stomach and an occupation to sustain their needs, the greedy bosses won’t stop. It should and must always begin with the people. The initiative of protecting the environment are not in the arms of city people protesting, it is in found in the people residing within the forested areas. For if they say ‘no’, the rich and greedy people can’t do anything.

In Baguio’s case, the blame goes to the government office, DENR and the Malacanang. However, it is their local government who permitted them first. It is them who sold most of the land to private companies. It is them who never stopped from telling people to invest on infrastructures and establishments. The legal right of SM to construct whatever they want at Luneta Hill is given by the one who sold them the land.

In my own opinion, if we all care about what will happen with our environment, we should start to accept the things that we have, appreciate them and make use of them without over exposing them to too much development and change. In an interview with DENR secretary Mr. Ramon Paje, he said that balling the trees in Luneta Hill, would affect the environment, but, it can be minimized. The fact that it has an effect on the environment, that means it is bad to the environment.

Economic growth is possible in many ways, SM could’ve been considerate with their architectural design. The traffic congestion in Session Road is affected by the traffic made within the vicinity of the said mall. It may have helped the people of Baguio for it offers a wide variety of stalls that could cater their needs, but come to think of it, the people of Baguio survived for years without SM. They have been completely and happily satisfied with the bargain finds in ‘Ukay-Ukay’ stores. I still remember when I was still young and we usually visit Baguio, I will be wearing jackets wherever I go. Nowadays, I only wear jackets whenever I go out at night or will be staying at Camp John Hay.

Last March before this issue even got bigger, I got the chance to roam around Baguio. I was shocked to see that Ayala is already developing their own shopping hub within the city. Designed after Bonifacio High Street, the structures seem not to damage the environmental architecture of the place. They patterned their architectural design with the environment. I thought, why can’t we develop or urbanize and pattern or adjust our wants to progress with the environment. Because the environment can’t adjust for us, but we can for them.

This issue is present almost everywhere. The sad news is, the people tend to rely too much on the environment and forgot to maximize what they already have. I have been climbing mountains for 3 years now, and out of all the mountains I stepped on to, Mt. Cristobal and Mt. Pulag were the only two I remember which are protected. I told a friend who joined me on my Cristobal climb that it is good that paranormal stories are widespread about Cristobal, because only few people dare to climb it. Most of the mountains became commercially available for anyone to explore.

Protesters said to stop the green and start to go green. What I can say is, let us start on our own ways to help the environment. We are bothered by 182 pine trees to be cut, forgetting that we needed to protect the remaining 7 million hectares of forests. Instead we need to ask ourselves, when will I be contented with development? Have I already maximize the resources from the previous destruction I made? How can I compensate the environment for the things that I destroyed? And lastly let us ask ourselves, what can I do to protect what we have left?