Being able to spend four years of my college life in Baguio City, I can say that I haven’t seen any community treasure trees as much as the residents of Baguio.
I remember how our professors in UP told us how they protested against cutting the trees beside Baguio Convention Center many years ago. You wouldn’t believe that they actually surrounded the whole lot of trees to prevent the LGU from cutting them. Up until now, those trees are standing there guarded.
I can also recall how we all signed petitions and joined rallies to convince SM to stop uprooting the trees for their parking lot; and how deeply disappointed everyone is when we lost that fight.
After all, what is the City of Pines without its trees? So, when the trees at Malcolm Square, Baguio City were pruned just recently, it wasn’t surprising that the community would react.
Here are some photos taken by Gideon Omero, courtesy of When In Baguio.
Read some of the netizens’ reactions below.
This make me sad
???? …pine tree is one of the main attraction in baguio ???? – Siyaron Neetenin
Mag-2017 na, sana pag ganitong may mga project priority pa rin ang environment, i.e. mga puno. Sana hindi lang yung contractor ang present sa construction site, pati DENR at kung ano pa mang relevant na sangay ng gobyerno. Ni wala ngang kailangan sana baguhin sa Malcolm Square, todo ayos pa, pati puno nadamay. – Noeli Marcos
Do these trees pose danger or threats to the people or the public in general? For them to be cut? – Kathleen Julia Carantes
What are your thoughts on this? Tell us in the comments.
