With apologies to Enya, I deemed it appropriate to entitle my lament for the Arroceros Forest Park after one of her albums. Kasi I heard from B2 that the city government of Manila has finally locked up the place for leveling and construction of a concrete edifice, I don't know or care whether it's another mall, condo or what have you. While I appreciate what Mayor Atienza has done to revive the Roxas Boulevard area (even if the lampposts are kitschy and tasteless), I certainly deplore this utter disregard for tearing down places that ought to be preserved.I mean, do we need another mall in place of an old-growth forest? Wala na bang puwedeng puntahan ang mga tao na libre, kaaya-aya at di kelangang bumili? Wala na ba talagang ibang sites na puwedeng pagtayuan ng City College of Manila building?
Flying in from Batanes a month ago, napakapangit tingnan ng Maynila from above. Panay yero, panay konkreto. Walang kapuno-puno. Contrast this to Singapore and you get what I mean. And to think that panay replanted lang ung trees and vegetation ng Singapore but they did this painstakingly over the years. Tapos, magtataka pa tayo kung bakit sobrang dami ang may hika at respiratory problems. Tsk, tsk.
if it's true that arroceros forest park is going the way of the jai-alai building and paco train station, then i'm all the sadder for the next generation. c'mon and see my pics of the forest. if we're not going to be careful, all we'll have in the future are pictures.
