Invitation to murder

"WE ARE saddened that they were not able to join us last week but they are still welcome to join us."
So rued Rene Romero, president of the Pampanga Chamber of Commerce and Industry and chairman of the Advocacy for the Development of Central Luzon, over the non-participation of greenies, particularly the Save the Trees Coalition (STC), to the so-called “urban tree planting” project.
It would have been the height of folly for the STC to have heeded Romero’s call, it being an invitation to murder.
There is everything right with the planting of new seedlings “a safe distance from the widened portion of the highway,” as Romero put it.
There is everything wrong, patently criminal, if we may in the moral and environmental sense, in the express intent of that planting activity. Again, the blabber straight from Romero’s mouth: “the old trees along the path of the road widening must go,” with the (un)justification “that the people would reap the economic and social benefits from a good road infrastructure.”
The first clause there but a reprise of Romero’s mantra: Cut down all trees along MacArthur Highway. The second, we shall reduce to its true dimension, presently.
Planting new seedlings – 750 in all, so crowed Romero’s mouthpiece – is now being impacted to the public as ample justification for the wholesale killing of trees along the national road.
So PamCham and its cohorts of tree-killers – the city government of San Fernando, the Department of Public Works and Highways, the Department of the Environment and Natural Resources, road contractor Leadway Construction – can now go their way of cutting down all mature trees along MacArthur?
“We at the DPWH are pro-environment. The fact that we try to make a balance between progress and nature preservation is an example of our commitment to save the environment.” So was Public Works Director Alfredo Tolentino quoted as saying, disclosing that “the event will see to the planting of 1,500 more trees, which is more than four times the number of the old trees along MacArthur Highway.” So did Tolentino lie.
What 1,500 is he talking about when only half of that – 750 – were reported planted?
So he talked of his proffered number as “four times” the number of old trees along MacArthur? I wonder how this character got his engineering license. His agency itself reported not too long ago that there were some 5,000 trees along the Bulacan-Pampanga-Tarlac stretch of MacArthur Highway. What type of mathematics is Tolentino now applying? 5,000 X 4 = 1,500? No engineer but an idiot there!
And what had the good Mayor Oscar S. Rodriguez to do, but to provide the chorus to Romero and Tolentino, as he “hailed the on-going project, saying it is beneficial to the public.
“He said new trees are needed in order to make the road shoulders of MacArthur greener. This in turn, he said, will also help in filtering carbon emissions that are harmful to the people’s health.” So reported Sun-Star Pampanga.
If Rodriguez had any sense of what he was reported to have said, he should have had, right there and then, kicked the very daylight out of Romero, Tolentino, Leadway, and all advocates of any tree-cutting.
Planting new trees can never be an either-or-alternative to killing mature trees. These should be complementary as it takes no less than 10 years for young trees to be able to even approximate the beneficial capacity of mature trees.
Here are some finds from the Colorado Trees Coalition at www.coloradotrees.org
Trees act as a carbon sink by removing the carbon and storing it as cellulose in their trunk, branches, leaves and roots while releasing oxygen back into the air. A single mature tree can absorb carbon dioxide at a rate of 48 lbs./year and release enough oxygen back into the atmosphere to support two human beings. Over a 50-year lifetime, a tree generates $31,250 worth of oxygen, provides $62,000 worth of air pollution control, recycles $37,500 worth of water, and controls $31,250 worth of soil erosion. Reduction of Other Air Pollutants. In one urban park (212 ha.) tree cover was found to remove daily 48lbs. particulates, 9 lbs. nitrogen dioxide, 6 lbs. sulfur dioxide, and 2 lb. carbon monoxide ($136/day value based upon pollution control technology) and 100 lbs. of carbon.
Urban Forests Protect Our Water :Trees reduce topsoil erosion, prevent harmful land pollutants contained in the soil from getting into our waterways, slow down water run-off, and ensure that our groundwater supplies are continually being replenished.
Urban Forests Can Extend the Life of Paved Surfaces: The asphalt paving on streets contain stone aggregate in an oil binder. Without tree shade, the oil heats up and volatizes, leaving the aggregate unprotected. Vehicles then loosen the aggregate and much like sandpaper, the loose aggregate grinds down the pavement. Streets should be overlaid or slurry sealed every 7-10 years over a 30-40 year period, after which reconstruction is required. A slurry seal costs approximately $0.27/sq.ft. or $50,000/linear mile. Because the oil does not dry out as fast on a shaded street as it does on a street with no shade trees, this street maintenance can be deferred. The slurry seal can be deferred from every 10 years to every 20-25 years for older streets with extensive tree canopy cover.
Urban Forests Can Increase Traffic Safety: Trees can serve as a buffer between moving vehicles and pedestrians. Street trees also forewarn drivers of upcoming curves. If the driver sees tree trunks curving ahead before seeing the road curve, they will slow down and be more cautious when approaching curves.
Urban Forests Can Improve Economic Sustainability: Studies have shown that: 1) Trees enhance community economic stability by attracting businesses and tourists; 2)People linger and shop longer along tree-lined streets;3) Apartments and offices in wooded areas rent more quickly and have higher occupancy rates; and 4) Businesses leasing office spaces in developments with trees find their workers are more productive and absenteeism is reduced.
Urban Forests Can Increase Sociological Benefits Two University of Illinois researchers (Kuo and Sullivan) studied how well residents of the Chicago Robert Taylor Housing Project (the largest public housing development in the world) were doing in their daily lives based upon the amount of contact they had with trees, and came to the following conclusions: 1) Trees have the potential to reduce social service budgets, decrease police calls for domestic violence, strengthen urban communities, and decrease the incidence of child abuse according to the study. Chicago officials heard that message last year. The city government spent $10 million to plant 20,000 trees, a decision influenced by Kuo’s and Sullivan’s research, according to the Chicago Tribune. 2) Researchers found fewer reports of physical violence in homes that had trees outside the buildings. Of the residents interviewed, 14% of residents living in barren conditions have threatened to use a knife or gun against their children versus 3% for the residents living in green conditions; and 3) A U.S. Department of Energy study reports that trees reduce noise pollution by acting as a buffer and absorbing 50% of urban noise.
So what was Romero saying? “The old trees along the path of the road widening must go so that the people would reap the economic and social benefits from a good road infrastructure.”
Yeah right. Look at all those vulcanizing shops, jeepney and tricycle terminals, mobile carinderias and instant talipapas that have sprouted all along the widened portions of MacArthur Highway from Malolos down to Apalit. Yeah, right Romero, really economic and social benefits there from a good road infrastructure.
And Romero had the gall to protest the Metro Angeles Chamber of Commerce and Industry beating his PamCham for the Most Outstanding Chamber Award of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry?
Ay, that’s another story.