CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – Tree-loving artists and activists just won’t take the word of the Department of Public Works and Highways.
A week after the agency yielded to protests by suspending the earth-balling of 1,299 trees and the cutting of 4,404 others to give way to more lanes on a 92-km stretch of the MacArthur Highway from Apalit, Pampanga down to San Manuel, Tarlac, at least 30 artists put their brushes to work again.
They held their own State of the Trees Address (SOTA) as a counterpoint to the State of the Nation Address of President Macapagal-Arroyo before Congress.
In their version, the Kalinangan Telabastagan, Gamat Fernandino, Pampanga Artists Chamber, Alaya Chamber of the Arts and Sikhay painted life-size human figures on more trees, this time on the Sindalan and Del Rosario portions of the highway in this Pampanga capital city.
All coated in acrylic white and with arms outstretched as if hugging the trees, the protest sign was the same image that compelled the DPWH to halt its tree-cutting activities in the meantime.
"The state of these trees on MacArthur is that they’re bound for death," local environmentalist Cecile Yumul said as Asin’s "Kapaligiran" blared from a van parked along the Balite section of the highway.
Architect Gary Salas did not only paint an adult figure. He drew a child next to it, showing the images to be holding hands.
FAMILIES
"Trees are for families," said Salas, a father of a four-year-old girl.
Yumul also spoke on radio on Monday to urge families to camp out near the trees every Sunday to enjoy the shades or paint these with human figures.
As artists like Edille Paras, Hermie Pineda and Andy Ramos "armored" the trees with the protest sign at 10 a.m., motorists stopped to donate food or money.
Sarah Dizon, who commutes from Magalang to San Fernando daily by jeep, donated P500 for about two gallons of paint.
The Verry and Hopper families pitched in money too. The Federation of Homeowners Associations from the city’s 100 residential subdivisions donated 50 t-shirts emblazoned with "Save our Trees!" message.
The federation wants the trees saved to provide a safety buffer between the highway and the communities.
Students like Ronald Singian, 15, spent the holiday by helping paint the protest sign.
"This is my little contribution in protecting Mother Nature. It’s been hot around here since the trees were cut," said the fourth year student of Lara Integrated School.
The DPWH had so far cut down 140 trees from Sindalan to Dolores here until last Tuesday when Pampanga Gov. Eddie Panlilio and city officials led the Save Our Trees Coalition in a picket at the agency’s Central Luzon office here.
But since DPWH officials could not show a written proof and gave only words that the tree-cutting was "stopped until further notice," the coalition picketed the regional office of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources the next day, Wednesday.
PASSING THE BLAME
In the dialogue, DENR regional executive director Antonio Principe tossed the blame on the DPWH, saying it was the latter that applied for a special tree-cutting permit, which was backed up by the Regional Development Council.
Panlilio instructed the provincial legal office to assist the coalition in the lobby to protect the trees. The provincial government has planted more than 5,000 trees near riverbanks since July 2007.
As of Monday, DPWH regional director Alfredo Tolentino reiterated that the suspension order remains in effect.
"Stop lahat (All the cutting has been stopped)," he said, adding that applied to the entire 92-km stretch.
It had to be stopped because, he said, "there are no funds yet for the road-widening project." That costs about P700 million, he said. The project comes four years after the DPWH added a lane on each of the highway in 2005.
According to him, the DPWH would "concentrate" instead on constructing bridges along the same highway.
Asked until when the suspension of tree-cutting would hold, Tolentino could not give a timetable except say the oft-repeated assurance of "until further notice."
Also on Monday, 10 leaders of the coalition started going around the province to invite residents to a public hearing to be conducted by the Senate committee on environment on Wednesday, July 29 at the city’s atrium, according to Ching Pangilinan, a green advocate.
"It takes decades for trees to mature and give oxygen, suck in carbon dioxide and hold water for our reservoir. The Department of Education has been mobilizing our youth in tree-planting but the DPWH and DENR, ironically, are killing [the trees]. Our government has conflicting policies," said Pangilinan.
Yumul said the protests would not stop until both agencies officially withdraw the permit issued by Environment Secretary Lito Atienza on April 22. It’s good for 120 days.
Sofio Quintana, DENR regional technical director for forestry, said Atienza has not yet revoked the permit.
