.living in the suburbs has its advantages and disadvantages. for one, the distance from the city makes travel, and the consequential heavy traffic, quite unbearable at times. with the yuletide season just around the corner, the already arduous task of going to the office or the mall will be even more punishing, not to mention painful to the pocket with the price of gasoline nowadays. however, the relatively cleaner air and quiet neighborhood provide us with a more than welcome
ex-deal so to speak. we can jog freely in our traffic-free roads and children can play in the neighborhood playground. trees lined the streets, with more planted inside fenced lots providing the cool breeze, shade from our tropical heat, and helping in providing a provincial atmosphere around the area.
many were therefore shocked to find out that there is a killer in our neighborhood! a tree killer to be exact, and it was quite easy tracking her down.
last week, i noticed that the big, old mango tree on the property diagonally across ours was dying, shedding its leaves faster than normal. after four days it was almost barren. what happened, i thought. i
didn’t look sick days before.
sayang naman for such an old tree (my parents said it was already there when we moved here in the late ‘70s!). a light bulb clicked in my head (one usually does). a healthy tree like that
wouldn’t just suddenly croak! in the middle of the rainy season! unless it was hit by lightning, or it was killed deliberately.
my hunch was right. several days later the lot owner happened to pass by as my dad was at our front steps. asked what had happened to the once mighty mango tree, she confirmed that they killed it, without batting an eyelash!
mrs. tree killer said the tree had become bothersome. huh? for all i know, the tree was killed to spite her neighbors who were benefiting from its wonderful shade. neighbors she had squabbled with days earlier. imagine sacrificing a decades-old tree for such petty and selfish reasons.
joyce kilmer would have somersaulted in his grave!
for whatever reason, this should not have happened.
isn’t this illegal?
isn’t there a law that protects trees from being cut down or killed. but it’s useless to report this incident. if people can get away with murder of humans in this country, what more with tree murder! but what really irritates me is the ignorance and the lack of concern of the likes of
mrs. tree killer about the environment. i’m not saying that she should enlist in
greenpeace or go plant trees in the barren sierra
madre mountains! all i’m saying is that she, WE, should at least help in preserving the environment by protecting the little resources that we have left. is that too much to ask? from a seemingly educated person? (if i sound sarcastic here, you should hear me talk about this with fire coming out of my nostrils. he he.)
I am not a rabid environmentalist. I don’t even consider my self an environmentalist, period! but, unlike my neighbor
mrs. tree killer, I think I understand my basic duties as a responsible occupant of this planet!
. 
