The only thing worse than being blind is having sight with no vision. – Helen Keller
The cutting of century-old trees along the old Airport generated more than a week of cursing, ranting, maligning in social media, to a point of tagging those who felled the trees as “murderers.”
It all started with a netizen who took a picture, posted it and within a couple of days when media took the issue on air, hundreds of angry social media feeds awakened our local officials who immediately ordered a stop to the operations.
Cutting down 26 huge trees probably took a few days and unfortunately, despite thousands of people passing through that area, nobody took notice of the operation until the 26th tree was felled. That act saved nine other trees from being cut down.
What made that incident worse is when local officials started pointing the blame to the main agency – the DPWH – who was handling the beautification project, and the CENRO for giving those tree-cutting permits.
In the words of Mayor Bing Leonardia, he was “shocked” and “taken by surprise,” after it was reported to him that those trees which he described as “treasures” and part and parcel of the city.
I was surprised by that because the last time I checked, Mayor Bing rules over the city and that road is part of Bacolod. To feign surprise that he did not know what was happening under his watch speaks volumes – and it’s not complimentary at all.
And so with the other officials who feigned ignorance and washed their hands off the mess when they gave a unanimous approval at both the barangay and the local city council. Such hypocrisy to place the blame on CENRO just because the latter was in charge of inspection and verification of the area and their supposed duty is mere “ministerial” after recommendations were submitted.
The question is, how many more ministerial resolutions were passed in this manner? I guess there are several more because even as the rage was ongoing about the old Airport trees, 50 more trees were being felled along Brgy. Granada – with the same justification, sidewalk beautification.
Bacolod City District Engineer James Javellana was on the defensive saying DPWH got the permit to cut those trees from DENR and was justifiable because these were posing a danger to pedestrians, commuters and motorists with roots jutting out and damaging the roads and drainage system.
Of course many did not accept such explanation and he was bashed for being a shame to their profession because while other communities exert effort to work around these hazards, as he implied, to the DPWH, cutting them down was imminent.
The worst is the DENR, the supposed defender and protector of the environment who gave the permit to DPWH and allegedly endorsed the same to the city council. But then again, what do you expect from an environmental agency that spearheads dumping of dolomite sand at the Manila Bay for our mental health.
An investigation on the matter was endorsed by both Mayor Bing and Cong. Greg Gasataya. Will the SP who are all under his thumb except for one, be investigated as well? Will the barangay officials of Singcang who are also his allies be part of the investigation? To what end, when the damage has been done?
The city council, through Environment Chair, Councilor Carl Lopez said they should not be blamed as their resolution of no objection was because they were only acting upon the request of DPWH which has an attached tree-cutting permit already from CENRO Bago City.
CENRO Bago City head, Engr. Joan Nathaniel Gerangaya on the other hand said it was not possible for them to issue a tree-cutting permit ahead of the city resolution and in fact, their records showed that the resolution from the council was passed November 25, 2020 while their tree-cutting permit only came out March 19, 2021.
Singcang-Airport Barangay Captain Rosinie Distrito also clarified that the resolution passed by the barangay was a mere endorsement of the DPWH project which does not mention cutting of trees, which of course Lopez contradicted.
It is funny how this has turned into a “he said, she said” and all are allies by a very shocked mayor. That is very telling how this investigation will turn out.
It is embarrassing to see posts showing side-by-side pictures of Iloilo City where efforts were made to preserve their trees, against ours were stumps are the only reminder left, that once, there stood the “treasures” of our city.
Meanwhile, Granada Brgy. Captain Alfredo Talimodao said he allowed the cutting of trees in his area with the assurance from DPWH that for every tree felled, 100 seedlings will be planted as a replacement. Duh! We’ve heard that time and again as justification but where are these replacement trees located?
We’ve seen how bad our flood control is despite the many drainage improvement projects in this city. That alone is enough for our city council not to blindly pass a resolution of sorts that pertains to damage to the environment.
Ah, Keller was right and it is sad that we are in this state because our so-called leaders have no vision at all.
But what made me even sadder is how hundreds, even thousands, supported the issue of our murdered trees yet could not denounce the dozens of murders in our midst that remain unsolved.*