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Their fight goes on.
“On Monday, January 19, members of Project Save 182 staged a ‘black balloon protest’ in front of SM City Baguio for cutting down 60 pine trees for the mall’s expansion project,” reports Diane Rivera on ABS-CBNnews.com.
The report noted: “Witnesses earlier said around 100 laborers started cutting pine trees behind the mall building around midnight Saturday, without using any heavy equipment.”
Then, in its official statement, SM City Baguio, explained that “the expansion will pave the way for its new seven-storey Sky Park project.”
The statement read: “A Sky Park, which features green walls consisting of live plants will help improve air quality, making the mall both relaxing and enjoyable for the whole family. It also consists of a sewerage treatment plant (STP), and an underground rainwater catchment tank in the basement. The excess space of catchment tank will provide many additional parking space, thereby helping decongest traffic along Upper Session Road.”
Even so, environmental advocates are not fans of the Sky Park.
It may be recalled that Project Save 182 started back in 2012, when concerned citizens launched a protest against the mall management for cutting trees in Baguio City’s Luneta Hill. The group had explained, “In a symbolic support for the trees intended to be cut, earthballed and harmed by SM as allowed by city government and Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), we will plant 182 pine trees in Burnham Park to dramatize the protest.”
Photo: Diane Rivera, ABS-CBN News North Luzon (via ABS-CBNnews.com)
