Why did it seem as if the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) was waiting for a pat on the back after it revealed, as mentioned in a news report recently, its intention to push the idea of creating “urban green spaces to mitigate the increasing high heat index in the country?”
The DENR went on to say, “especially in highly urbanized areas.”
Forgive the cynicism, but it sounded just a bit too little, too late.
For decades, environment warriors have fought an uphill battle (an arid hill, to be downright annoying about it) in seeking government involvement or support for preserving, nurturing, and protecting our natural resources.
From this couch, we have seen how lush trees in different cities in Metro Manila were pulled out or cut down in the name of road expansion. They’re just trees, the most ignorant and uncaring scoffed, making one wish they would one day stand under the searing heat of summer with no shade whatsoever.
It’s hilarious how the recommendation was made to “reduce the Urban Heat Island effect,” according to the DENR. It reminded one of the time the Mehan Garden in the city of Manila was being threatened with extinction.
The Mehan Garden is located off Liwasang Bonifacio, across from the Philippine Post Office main building. Governor Fernando Norzagaray y Escudero established the space as a botanical garden in the late 1800s. When the Americans came, they decided it would be better off as a public park.
In 2001, a ruckus was raised over then-Mayor Lito Atienza’s plan to build a city college there. Even then President Joseph Estrada had seen fit to keep silent over the issues bannered by both environmentalists and conservationists.
Remember the old Jai Alai Building, touted as one of Southeast Asia’s finest Art Deco-style structures, demolished and turned into the new Justice Building? This simply shows how cavalier most people’s attitudes are toward some of the most important things in life.
It is unfortunate and ultimately sad that we would get to this point of trying to battle an ever-rising heat index with the same superficial way we view issues or, worse, platitudes.
Words don’t mean a thing now. Where in heaven’s name can we find these “urban green spaces” unless they are in exclusive villages where only the privileged can meander and promenade?
The Masungi Georeserve — a paradise for those seeking the greenest space near the smoggy cities they call home — is in constant danger of encroachment. And let us not get started on what happened to Bohol’s Chocolate Hills — and that’s probably just one case where public officials and the agencies concerned either looked the other way or failed to do their job miserably.
The percentage of green spaces and forests has drastically lessened in the name of urban development.
Metro Manila lists a few — Arroceros Forest Park, UP Academic Oval, People’s Park, Greenway Park, Ayala Triangle Gardens, Estero Tripa de Gallina, Filinvest City Central Park — to borrow from a report, but who in their right mind would brave this heat nowadays?
Perhaps, the DENR’s efforts to implement greening programs will yield positive results in the coming years. For now, we must find ways to endure (that it had come to this!) and fan away our disappointment and worries for a climate-changed world.
