At long last, we’ll have an RP botanical garden

Thanks to Speaker Jose de Venecia, at long last we will have a Philippine Botanical Garden that will be the very first Philippine Science and Technology Park in the country. It will sprout in the Diliman Complex of Quezon City. One of our earliest childhood memories was the Jardin Botanico in Manila that was later expanded to a Zoo that included an elephant. We also had an aquarium. The aquarium survives in Intramuros, but, sad to say, it has not developed with the times.

The closest thing that Metro Manila has at the moment to a botanical garden is the Arroceros Park. That is well situated because it is along the Pasig River and key places like the Post Office and City Hall. There have been some attempts in the past to establish small, but historical botanical gardens. Outside the walls of Intramuros is a monument to the Mexican President that issued the cry of independence against Spain. Around it are plants that were introduced to the Philippines from Mexico. Even some of our staple fruits originated from Mexico. Classic examples are maize and camote. They were all brought here during the Galleon trade. When the Spanish Empire expanded to the New World, in one generation it grew to double of what it took the Roman Empire to achieve in 500 years. And when Spain discovered the Philippines, it became the very first empire where the sun never set.

Talking about the establishment of the first Philippine Science and Technology Park, Speaker De Venecia said: "This project should create a chain reaction nationwide in our efforts to support President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s campaign to promote a healthy environment for Filipinos. This was to launch a second project, a tree-planting program called Tanim Ko, Aalagaan Ko (I planted, I’ll take care of it.)

We are glad that people are getting more and more tree conscious. Even the expanding of roads is often deferred because such would involve the killing of very, very old trees. The best way to have trees everywhere is through the schools. Imagine what would happen if every student would plant one tree a year and live up to Tanim Ko, Aalagaan Ko. It would definitely insure that we would never turn into an asphalt jungle.

In Makati, they transplanted full-grown palm trees in a commercial street and it has certainly upgraded the environment there. We wonder if they cannot do the same for other commercial streets.

Manila, under Mayor Lito Atienza, has become a far more attractive city. The mayors before him did what had to be done after Liberation – rebuild Manila – which was the second most devastated city in World War II. Mayor Atienza is now beautifying the city and trees have played an important role in his beautification program.

We also noticed that we see more and more signs all over the country that contain no advertisements. Instead, they project Joyce Kilmer’s poem Trees.