Arroceros Park as tourists’ haven

In the month of November in 1993 with the approval and support of President and Mrs. Fidel V. Ramos, Winner Foundation signed a memorandum of agreement with the City of Manila to create and develop a forest park in the DECS property owned by the City of Manila.

The master plan of the mini forest was drawn up by a landscape architect Wilfredo "Doy" Dizon who offered his services "pro bono". He was then the president of the Philippine Association of Landscape Architects (PALA).

To prepare for the project Winner Foundation members had meetings with forestry experts from UP Los Baños, DENR and Araneta University and made side trips to forest sites. They organized with Miriam Peace (Public education and awareness campaign for the environment) a seminar and participated in another one in Manila Hotel organized by Narz Lim for a forestry organization. Earlier, they had planted trees in T.M. Kalaw Street in Manila, in NAIA, Ortigas Ave., EDSA and Welfareville in Mandaluyong.

Chito Bertol of Manila Seedling Bank was awarded the planting contract. MMDA, DPWH and the City of Manila assisted them in clearing the debris of what was once the Department of Education and Culture compound.

There were 150 existing old trees some of them more than a hundred years old. Manila Seedling Bank planted 3,500 saplings and maintained it for one year. Winner Foundation took over after that.

Winner members met once a week during the first years to oversee the maintenance. Later they came bi-monthly and eventually once a month. They saw the trees through typhoons and dry spells.

On the third year, Ed Santiago of the Bulacan Gardens family was commissioned to landscape the front area. The trees were inventoried and tagged with their popular and scientific names by UP Los Baños graduate forester June Alvarez.

Clean and Green Foundation extended financial assistance when the new mayor refused to provide guards as provided for in the Memorandum of Agreement. Mrs. Ramos offered Winner Foundation a small office space at the Orchidarium. Together, they put up a nursery supervised by Dencio the gardener and installed a compost pit in the back area. They were able to provide free mahogany and narra seedlings to MMDA, the Jesuit seminary in Novaliches and others.

In the new millennium Winner Foundation networked with the rest of the environmental and heritage N.G.Os. Earthday 2000, 2001 and 2002 were celebrated together with the umbrella organization, Earthday Network Philippines affiliated with the world wide organization.

In 2001 the Mayor of Manila, Lito Atienza announced he would build a city college in Mehan and a teacher’s building in Arroceros Park. Inspite of DENR’s legal objections he removed trees and replaced it with a huge Park and Ride building using the parking area of the Metropolitan Theatre.

With other environmentalists and heritage conservators, Winner made a stand against Mayor Atienza’s planned take-over of the national heritage sites the Jai Alai Building, Mehan Gardens, Arroceros, Army Navy Club and Metropolitan Theatre. The national artists came together in an historic gathering in Arroceros Park to make an appeal to His Honor. Their plea to save open spaces in Manila remains unheeded. The Mayor announced this week he will construct the City College of Manila in Mehan Garden and a teacher’s building in Arroceros Forest Park.

Recent development, notwithstanding, the Winner members, friends and volunteers from the business and educational sectors continue to care for and guard the forest. The majority of the trees are not mature enough to withstand incidents of vandalism like stripping of the narra barks, destruction of ground cover, breaking of branches for no apparent reason and hunting and stoning of birds.

Hopefully by partially opening the forest on week-ends and providing educational tours and lectures our people will learn to love and care for the environment. That was our vision when we started nine years ago. Through the forest park we would provide environmental education, eliminate pollution by creating a lung for the City of Manila and create a place where the weary urban dweller could re-create and have a respite from the concrete structures of Manila.

Our mission is far from over. Lights and comfort rooms still have to be installed. We also need attractions to make it a tourist destination: a lagoon, a café to service park strollers and Metropolitan Theater goers, a souvenir and plant shop, hanging bridges and tree houses. All these remain dreams but with the help of everyone we will achieve what seems impossible.