With the Department of Public Works and Highways hell-bent on getting rid of all the trees along the entire stretch of the Mac Arthur Hiway, former Bureau of Public Works District Engineer Eusebius Julius Halsema must be turning in his grave.
For those who are clueless, EJ Halsema was the American Engineer who was the Pampanga District Engineer from 1914 to 1916 to whom we owe not only public school buildings and public markets but also Pampanga’s first class road network system.
One of the more nostalgic and visionary contributions of Halsema’s stint in Pampanga was the planting of hundreds of acacia trees from the provincial nursery along the main highways to protect motorists and travelers from the tropical sun.
Today we reap the benefits of such thoughtful action when we drive along the stretch of Mac Arthur Highway in Barangay Baliti to Telabastagan under a charming canopy of trees.
The irony of it all is that it is the same Public Works bureau which is now murdering those trees! This is an insult to history and a destruction of our heritage as a people.
The innocent trees which are the subject of much contempt lately, especially from the national government, have a cultural and historic value that is worth passing and preserving for future generations. They form an integral part of the revered streetscape that makes us Fernandinos proud of this City.
Gone today are the trees in the Sindalan area and soon to follow are the remaining trees in the northern part of San Fernando. They simply must pay the price for development, in favor of wider roads that will accommodate more vehicles which in turn will emit more poisonous carbon gases.
Some DENR officials claim that the trees are too sick anyway so why not kill them as well, if this belief makes them feel less guilty for their murderous notion.
As Fernandinos and Filipinos we have a shared responsibility to save our patrimony. In the guise of overdevelopment we must not sacrifice legacies that take a hundred years to build.
I am deeply saddened by the massacre of trees and I share the grief of other concerned citizens who feel the same way. But in the midst of this, may we all find the strength and the will to turn our grief into action and do our own part in preserving what’s left our heritage trees.
For those who are clueless, EJ Halsema was the American Engineer who was the Pampanga District Engineer from 1914 to 1916 to whom we owe not only public school buildings and public markets but also Pampanga’s first class road network system.
One of the more nostalgic and visionary contributions of Halsema’s stint in Pampanga was the planting of hundreds of acacia trees from the provincial nursery along the main highways to protect motorists and travelers from the tropical sun.
Today we reap the benefits of such thoughtful action when we drive along the stretch of Mac Arthur Highway in Barangay Baliti to Telabastagan under a charming canopy of trees.
The irony of it all is that it is the same Public Works bureau which is now murdering those trees! This is an insult to history and a destruction of our heritage as a people.
The innocent trees which are the subject of much contempt lately, especially from the national government, have a cultural and historic value that is worth passing and preserving for future generations. They form an integral part of the revered streetscape that makes us Fernandinos proud of this City.
Gone today are the trees in the Sindalan area and soon to follow are the remaining trees in the northern part of San Fernando. They simply must pay the price for development, in favor of wider roads that will accommodate more vehicles which in turn will emit more poisonous carbon gases.
Some DENR officials claim that the trees are too sick anyway so why not kill them as well, if this belief makes them feel less guilty for their murderous notion.
As Fernandinos and Filipinos we have a shared responsibility to save our patrimony. In the guise of overdevelopment we must not sacrifice legacies that take a hundred years to build.
I am deeply saddened by the massacre of trees and I share the grief of other concerned citizens who feel the same way. But in the midst of this, may we all find the strength and the will to turn our grief into action and do our own part in preserving what’s left our heritage trees.
