Damn 'PAMCHAM'

NOW YOU know why Among Ed (Panlilio) steadfastly refused, if not totally ignored the proffered counsel of Rene Romero at the onset of his governorship.
What? Why? Asked I of the respected reverend sharing cups of cafe Americano with me at Starbucks Marquee Mall Thursday last week.
He shoved before me the day’s issue of Sun-Star Pampanga folded to page 2 with the headline Total removal of trees along highway sought.
I started to read the news story: Pampanga Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Pamcham) President Rene Romero called on Tuesday for the total removal of all trees along the MacArthur Highway.
The move is to avoid further accidents and ensure the safety of motorists and commuters.
Romero was prompted to make the call following recent accident involving a fallen Camachile tree that caused injuries to passengers of a public utility jeepney along the Baliti section of MacArthur Highway last week.
Romero said MacArthur Highway here should be made safe of the dangers of falling branches and trees that have been planted too close to road shoulders...
Cut the minister: If Romero had the temerity to misconceive such an idiotic proposition, I shudder to think what he could have given Among Ed for advice if the good governor ever took him in as confidant. I am horrified to think what could have happened to Pampanga from there.
Sorry but I see no idiocy in Romero by proposing to cut all the trees along MacArthur Highway.
Hello? Are you in there Bong Lacson? Knocking on my head twice. The tok-tok more audible – and more painful – with my long locks already shorn.
Shorter hair and all, it’s still old me, silly.
So did you not yourself make a stand to spare all those trees, writing lots of articles for their preservation? For once, you even found common cause with your compadre when you were together in that indignation rally against tree-cutting in front of the DPWH (Department of Public Works and Highways) office in Sindalan, beside the stumps of the felled trees.
Of course, I still stand squarely on the conviction that those trees need to be preserved. Insane, I even called those propagating the idea that those trees are “hazardous.”
You called the hazardous labeling of the trees as insane but you did not see idiocy in the proposal to cut them all? Did you find that camachile tree falling on a passenger jeepney providing the just cause to cut all the trees along MacArthur Highway?
No casus belli for me in that fallen camachile...
I sure am glad you still remember your seminary Latin, that’s from Julius Caesar’s De Bello Gallico, right? Too bad you misplaced your logic.
You’re my seminary elder, I forgive you for your insults. One fallen tree on a vehicle is not enough rationalization to cut all trees along the highway. Not even two fallen trees, as I have experienced myself.
You’ve had a tree fall on your car?
Not once but twice. I was with the prolific columnist Ashley Manabat driving through a storm sometime in 2006 when a ratiles tree by the Friendship Bridge fell and smashed on my old Pajero. We were unhurt but the Pajero had to be taken to the talyer for bodyworks and paint job. Two years ago, it was the turn of my old Toyota Crown to be at the receiving end of a fallen grove of decades-old fortune plants interwoven with crawlers and vines at my frontyard. We had to seek the assistance of the city engineer’s office to cut through the tangle with a chainsaw. It was a miracle that the Toyota Crown suffered nothing more than a peso-sized dent on the roof.
Now, you’re telling me...
Yes, I am telling you that these incidents have not made me a tree-hater, much less a tree-killer. While the ratiles tree, rotten to the root, had to be cut down, the fortune plants, after necessary pruning, have been nurtured back to life.
Pruning. There is the proper response to falling trees along MacArthur Highway. Look at what they do along the North Luzon Expressway. Before the rainy season, the trees are pruned so they won’t be prone to falling during storms, making the highway safe for the motorists.
So why can’t the DPWH and the city government do the same?
They would rather cut than prune to serve some hideous purposes.
Like what?
Subjugate their minds to the idiocy of some business interest groups.
Idiocy. There’s that word again.
So how will you term it?
Oversimplification. The MacArthur Highway equation reduced to an either-or proposition: a choice between people and trees, mutually exclusive. It pains me to read Mayor Oscar S. Rodriguez himself being quoted as saying: “You can replace and plant millions of trees. But you cannot replace human life. We are talking of the safety of people here. The priority will be the safety of people. And we will stand by our position."
The view of a horse with blinders, the mayor took there. To be kind about it. Blindsided as he was by the prodding of his business buddies. Failing to see the wisdom and the practicality of pruning...
But no idiocy there, eh?
No, because I hold the mayor honorable and honor has no place among idiots. I’d just say he needed to be reminded of the symbiosis between plants and animals, including humankind, as the key to the attainment of a habitat for human excellence.
Yeah, right. And the pursuit of urban development with no respect to the environment – as it is pursued by certain city businessmen – is the sure key to a habitat of human pestilence.
Yeah, right. That’s idiocy. Plain and simple. That’s what PAMCHAM is all about: Plants Are Murderous. Cut those Hazardous Along MacArthur. So the businessmen shall thrive. The environment be damned.
Idiots.