Protest rally greets park’s opening

The controversial Aroceros Forest Park in Manila was opened to the public yesterday, but its opening was greeted with a protest rally by teachers who said the park’s developers refused to allow further development in the area.

Officials of the Winner Foundation Inc. (WFI), led by its president Regino Roces-Paterno, said they decided to open the park to the public for free to let the public be aware of the development they have done in the forest park.

However, as WFI officials were formally announcing the opening of the park to reporters yesterday afternoon, some 250 people staged a protest rally just outside the park, denouncing WFI for refusing to allow development in the area.

WFI is supposedly the park’s developers and conservators, as stated in a memorandum of agreement entered into by the city government and the WFI in 1993.

Holding placards and streamers with slogans like "Give the park to the teachers," the rallyists said they represented Manila teachers, who bought the 2.1-hectare forest park using the teachers’ Special Education Fund.

The rallyists also supported the plan of Manila Mayor Lito Atienza to construct new headquarters for Manila teachers and develop the park into a botanical garden.

The protesters tried to enter the park but were prevented by responding policemen.

Paterno tried to explain the issue to protesters, but they insisted that WFI should leave the place and allow the city government to develop the park.

Prior to the rally, WFI officials and some 30 Manila public school teachers held a dialogue in which the teachers insisted on asserting their ownership of the property.

The WFI, however, said they do not claim ownership of the park but "just maintaining the park properly."

Though both groups claimed to have similar goals – that of protecting the century-old trees in the park and the environment – WFI did not agree to the construction of a building for the teachers.

At present, there are 3,500 fully grown trees, including 150 century-old trees in the park.

Benjie Valbuena, president of the Manila Public School Teachers association, said the issue is not about the environment but ownership.

The park, which used to house the Department of Education, was purchased from Landbank by the Manila city government, using the teachers’ special education fund in 1993.

Atienza said the city government is pushing for the immediate development of the forest park into a place the public can visit and learn about the environment. He wants the park to have a number of sculptures depicting Filipino values, aside from ornamental plants and trees. – Cecille Suerte Felipe